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LK.51  1  I     \J 

AT    LOS  ANGELES 


THE  GIFT  OF 

MAY  TREAT  MORRISON 

IN  MEMORY  OF 

ALEXANDER  F  MORRISON 


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THE  ROUND  TRIP 


BY  WAY  OF  PANAMA 


THROUGH  CALIFORNIA,  OREGON,  NEVADA,  UTAH, 
IDAHO,    AND    COLORADO 


NOTES    ON    RAILROADS,    COMMERCE,    AGRICULTURE,    MINING, 
SCENERY,    AND    PEOPLE 


JOHN     CODMAN 


NEW   YORK 
G.     P.     PUTNAM'S     SONS 

182  Fifth  Avenue 


Copyright, 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS, 

1879. 


,  ,     .... 


C63^ 


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£j  MY     COMPANION      IN     THESE     JOURNEYS,     AND     IN     THE    JOURNEY 

DC 

OF    LIFE,    THIS    MEMENTO    OF    PLEASANT    DAYS    IS 

AFFECTIONATELY    INSCRIBED. 

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2 

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on 

New  Yokk    April,  1879. 

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430117 


PREFACE. 


Desiring  to  be  on  familiar  terms  with  my  readers,  I 
have  adopted  the  unconstrained  style  of  a  personal  narra- 
tive, without  any  affectation  of  modesty  in  avoiding  the 
use  of  personal  pronouns. 

Lest  complaint  should  be  made  of  anachronisms,  and 
there  should  be  discoveries  of  ubiquity,  the  reader  is 
notified  that  this  book  is  the  result  of  more  than  one 
year's  experience,  brought  up  as  nearly  as  possible  to 
the  conditions  of  the  present  day,  and  combined  as  con- 
tinuous. 

I  wish  to  point  out  objects  of  interest  not  often 
"written  up."  Thus,  little  is  said  of  large  cities,  and 
absolutely  nothing  of  the  Yosemite. 

The  tourist  starts  upon  the  Trans-Continental  tour 
with  a  library  of  illustrated  guide-books  and  maps,  some 
of  which  are  indispensable.  If  he  goes  directly  from  New 
York  to  San  Francisco,  and  thence  directly  returns,  they 
are  all  that  are  necessary. 

If,  however,  he  has  the  leisure  and  inclination  to  look 
at  some  things  not  exactly  on  the  line  of  railroads,  he  may 
perhaps  profitably  make  a  selection  from  The  Round 
Trip. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

A  Winter  Trip  to  California  by  the  Isthmus  Route — 
Leaving  New  York — At  Sea — Nearing  the  Warm 
Regions — Social  Lines  on  Shipboard — San  Salvador 
— A  Cultured  Young  Lady — Aspinwall — The  Princess 
Columbus  Married — A  Duel Page  i 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Trip  Across  the  Isthmus  of  Darien — The  Commerce 
of  the  Isthmus — Surveys  for  a  Canal — Panama  Rail- 
road Company — The  Terminus  on  the  Pacific  Side — 
Panama — Its  Eventful  History — Commerce  of  the 
City — British  Enterprise 9 

CHAPTER  III. 

A  Comfortable  old  Ship — Settling  a  Feminine  Dispute — 
"  The  Pacific  Agitator  " — Ports  and  Trade  of  Cen- 
tral America  —  Acapulco  —  Arrival  at  San  Fran- 
cisco   17 


viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

CALIFORNIA. 

A  Fable — A  Reminiscence  of  1848 — The  Comparative 
Production  of  Gold  and  Silver — The  Career  of  James 
C.  Flood,  one  of  the  Bonanza  Kings     ....  Page  27 

CHAPTER  V. 

Leaving  for  Southern  California — The  Pious  Agricul- 
turist— Great  and  Small  Farmers — Irrigation — Ridi- 
cule of  Fever  and  Ague — A  California  Editor's  Home- 
stead       32 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  "  Corkscrew  "  and  "  Loop  " — The  Autocrat  of  the 
Desert — Below  the  Level  of  the  Sea — A  Crazy  Plan 
for  Irrigation — The  City  of  Tuma — The  Onward  March 
of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad — Future  Prospects 
of  Arizona — The  Indians  and  their  Chief     ...     42 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Rival  towns  in  the  San  Bernardino  Valley — Newspaper 
Enterprise — Paradise  of  Orange  Trees — Intellec- 
tuality and  Laziness — Mormon  and  Roman  Catholic 
Civilizations — The  Mission  of  San  Gabriel  and  its 
Good  Wine 53 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Los  Angelos — Disappearance  of  the  Greasers — A  Ken- 
tuckian's  Discovery  of  Contentment — The  Founder  of 
the  California  Wine  Industry — Statistics  of  Orange 
Culture 63 


CONTENTS.  jx 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Natural  Divisions  of  California — Anaheim — A  Thrifty 
German  Settlement Page  68 

CHAPTER  X. 

Sanguine  "  Sanjaigans  " — Effects  of  the  Drought — Santa 
Monica — A  Steamship  with  a  History — San  Buenaven- 
tura— The  Ojai  Valley — Missionary  Enterprise    .     74 

CHAPTER  XI. 

A  Stage  Ride  up  the  California  Coast — The  Coach er's 
Yarns  —  How  a  Clergyman  was  Re-Baptized  —  The 
City  with  the  Perfect  Climate — A  Small  Landowner 
and  his  Trifling  Possessions 79 

CHAPTER  XII. 

The  ups  and  downs  of  Travel — The  Death  of  the  Herds 
— A  Sand  Storm — San  Luis  Obispo — The  Springs  of  Paso 
de  Roeles — Baths  of  Water  and  of  Earth — German 
Explanation  of  the  Mud  Baths  —  Hotel  Life  in  a 
Cottage 84 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

End  of  the  Stage-coach  Romance — The  Boundary  of 
Southern  California — Mexican  Grants — Approach  to 
Santa  Cruz — Its  Early  History — Its  Attractions  .     94 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

From  Santa  Cruz  to  San  Jose — The  Garden  of  Santa 
Clara   Valley — The   Towns    of  San    Jose   and   Santa 


x  CONTEXTS. 

Clara  —  Another  Mission  —  The  Church  and  the 
Grape-Wine  and  Brandy — The  Enterprise  of  Gen- 
eral Naglee Page  102 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Northern  California — Mount  Shasta  in  the  Distance — ■ 
Railroads — Farming  on  a  Large  Scale in 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Review  of  the  Mining  and  Agricultural  Interests  of 
California — Along  the  Sacramento — Napa — Calistoga 
—  The  Petrified  Forest — The  Geysers  —  San  Fran- 
cisco        T19 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

"The  Chinese  Problem  " 126 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Along  the  Coast  to  Oregon — Discovery  of  the  Colum- 
bia River — The  Bar — Industries  of  Oregon — Salmon 
Fishery 135 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Astoria — Portland — Willamette  Valley — Scenery  of  the 
Columbia — The  Dalles — Indian  Troubles — Oregon's  Op- 
portunity— Departure 145 

CHAPTER  XX. 

From  California  Eastwards — The  Mines  and  Gardens  of 
Grass  Valley — Lake  Tahoe,  Carson  and  Virginia  City 
— The  Sinks  of  the  Humboldt — The  Great  American 
Desert — Arrival  at  Salt  Lake  City 158 


CONTENTS.  xi 

CHAPTER   XXI. 

Sunset  at  Salt  Lake — The  Mormon  Jerusalem — The  As- 
sembly of  the  Saints — The  Late  Brigham  Young — The 
Closeof  the  Conference — Society  in  Utah  .     .  Page  169 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Out  into  the  Country — The  Great  Salt  Lake — Mormon 
and  Gentile  Towns — Elections — Ophir  Camp — Success- 
ful Business  Men 178 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Camp  Floyd  Ruled  by  a  Bishop  and  the  BIshop  Ruled 
by  his  Wife — William  Hickman — Lehi  and  the  Bishop 
who  Ruled  his  Wives  and  his  Diocese — The  Garden 
of  Isaac  Goodwin 189 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Sorghum — Luzerne — The  American  Fork  Canon     .     .  202 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Provo — Factory  and  Co-operative  Store — The  Two  Mor- 
mon Sects — The  Childless  Bishop  and  his  Nine  For- 
tunate Brothers 207 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  Journey  to  the  South — The  Hotel  at  Payson — Our 
Landlady's  Choice — Mormon  and  Gentile  Amenities 
— Hospitalities  of  the  Bishops  —  Mount  Nebo — En- 
ergetic Conduct  of  a  Bishop's  Wife — San  Pete  Val- 
ley— War,  the  Consequence  of  Miss  Ward's  Obstinacy 
— A  Monogamous  Mormon  Town — Reflections  of  Mrs. 
Price — The  Coal   Mines 213 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Towns  and  Villages  in  the  San  Pete  Valley — German 
Preaching — Providing  Tabernacles  for  Disembodied 
Spirits  —  Brigham  Young's  Journey  —  The  Mountain 
Meadow  Massacre — Life  and  Character  of  the  Apostle 
George  A.  Smith Page  223 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Impressions  of  Travel  in  Utah  upon  the  Female  Mind— The 
Storm  in  Clear  Creek  Canon — Cove  Fort — The  Ute 
Indians — Angutseeds  and  Kanosh — On  the  Way  to  the 
North — Fillmore — Scipio — Lost  on  the  Desert — The 
Tintec  Mines — Return  to  Salt  Lake  City.     .     .     .  235 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Idaho — Soda  Springs — Natural  Curiosities — The  Utah 
and  Northern  Railroad — A  Jumping  Town — The  Ban- 
nock Indians — Policy  of  the  Government  ....  254 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

Travels  among  the  Mormons — The  Prolific  Patriarch — 
The  Legend  of  Bear  Lake — Brother  Cook  and  his 
Family — Vicarious  Baptism — A  Mormon  Court — A  Pros- 
perous Convert — Blacksmith's  Fork  Canon — Return 
to  the  Line  of  the  Union  Pacific 268 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

The  Union  Pacific  Railroad — The  Rocky  Mountains — 
Easy-going  Emigrants  —  Greeley,  on  the  road  to 
Denver 2S2 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

The  City  of  Denver — Sunday — Climate — Railroads — En- 
thusiastic McAllister — Colorado  Springs — Colorado 
City  —  Manitou  —  "Garden  of  the  Gods"  and  Can- 
ons      Page  286 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Ascent  of  Pike's  Peak — The  Hermit  of  the  Mountain — 
The  Signal  Station — A  Hunting  Expedition — On  the 
Denver  and  Rio  Grande   Railroad 297 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Pueblo — The  Denver  and  Rio  Grande,  and  the  Atchison, 
Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  Railroads — Canon  City — The 
Grand  Canon  of  the  Arkansas — Denver  again— Colo- 
rado Central  Railroad — Idaho  Springs — Georgetown — 
General  Grant's  Drive — Return  to  the  Line  of  the 
Union  Pacific 307 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Cheyenne — Projected  Railroad  to  the  Black  Hills — 
The  Great  Cattle  Range — Life  of  the  Ranchman — 
Suggestions  to  Young  Men — Nebraska — Omaha — The 
Bridge  Across  the  Missouri — Railroads  to  Chicago — 
The  Chicago  and  North-West — A  Dinner  in  the 
Hotel-Car — Contrast  of  Mining  and  Agriculture — 
Conclusion 320 


THE  ROUND  TRIP. 


A  Winter  Trip  to  California  by  the  Isthmus  Route — 
Leaving  New  York — At  Sea — Nearing  the  Warm 
Regions — Social  Lines  on  Shipboard — San  Salvador 
— A  Cultured  Young  Lady — Aspinwall — The  Princess 
Columbus  Married — A  Duel. 

There  is  not  a  great  degree  of  self-sacrifice  in  bidding 
one's  native  land  adieu  when  the  cold  March  winds  are  whistling 
around  the  corners  of  city  blocks,  and  the  streets  are  ankle 
deep  in  snow  and  slush. 

Cheerless  as  were  the  skies  overhead,  their  cheerlessness  did 
not  pervade  our  hearts,  and  there  were  few  among  the  passen- 
gers of  the  "  Colon  "  who  were  not  willing  to  say  good-by  to  their 
friends  on  the  wharf,  pitying  rather  than  envying  those  who 
remained  behind.  The  "  Colon  "  is  one  of  the  new  iron  screw 
steamships  of  the  Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company,  complete  in 
all  her  appointments,  and  ably  commanded  by  Captain  Griffin, 
who  has  had  a  long  experience  in  the  service.     Before  she  had 


2  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

reached  the  Hook  and  discharged  the  pilot  there  were  ominous 
signs  of  a  gale — dark  masses  of  clouds  heaving  up  in  the  north- 
east, and  soon  spreading  themselves  like  palls  over  the  heavens. 
Then  came  the  rushing  of  the  blast,  bringing  with  it  driving 
hail  and  snow,  covering  the  decks.  The  good  ship  plunged  into 
the  south-west  sea  that  fought  in  crested  ranks  against  the  ad- 
vancing wvveo  iro.n  the  north-east;  the  red  light  on  the  port 
and  the  green  light  on  the  starboard  side  glared  into  the  gloom, 
eyes  of  red  and  green  shot  across  our  foamy  track,  stared 
at  us  for  an  instant  as  they  passed,  and  we  were  alone  upon  the 
deep.  For  us  the  whole  world  became  concentrated  in  the 
cabins  covered  by  the  small  area  of  our  decks. 

For  three  clays  the  north-east  gale  lasted  and  drove  us  across 
the  gloomy  waters  of  the  gulf  stream  down  to  calm  and  serene 
regions  in  the  balmy  air  of  the  tropics. 

As  many  who  had  been  snugly  stowed  away  in  their  state- 
rooms came  out  to  breathe  the  fresh  air  on  deck,  we  began  to 
know  each  other.  Heretofore  the  passengers  had  thought  more 
of  themselves  than  of  society.  Now,  some  of  the  ladies  who 
had  only  occasionally  appeared  in  very  simple  attire,  the  grace 
of  which  was  heightened  by  the  looseness  of  their  floating  locks, 
considered  it  necessary  to  "  do  up  their  hair  "  and  to  pull  back 
their  flowing  robes  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  the  ascent  of 
the  companion-way  more  difficult.  Fashion  resumed  its  sway 
in  our  little  world.  We  were  introduced  over  again  to  some  of 
those  we  did  not  recognize  in  their  disguise,  and  long  before  we 
arrived,  the  eighty  cabin  passengers  had  divided  themselves  into 
coteries  and  sets,  to  the  best  of  their  ability,  after  the  fashion  of 
people  in  larger  communities.  It  is  astonishing  how  quickly 
women  take  the  measure  of  each  other.  Men  who  belong  to 
them,  and  who  are  not  able  to  make  such  nice  distinctions,  are 


A  WINTER  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA.  3 

soon  made  aware  that  they  will  transgress  by  an  innocent  recog- 
nition of  "that  woman,"  who  has  been  tabooed  upon  suspicion  ! 
Oh,  yes  !  there  is  a  West  End  and  a  Fifth  Avenue  on  board  of 
a  steamer.  She  has  her  South  End  and  her  Bowery.  Big  worlds 
move  and  little  worlds  move,  and  ants  of  various  degrees  crawl 
around  upon  them  all. 

Many  people  prefer,  as  we  have  done,  to  make  the  trip  to  San 
Francisco  by  steamer  and  over  the  isthmus  rather  than  by  rail, 
especially  when  for  them  there  is  no  novelty  in  the  overland  road. 
In  summer  the  inducements  of  the  route  are  not  so  great,  but 
for  those  who  have  the  time  to  spare  it  cannot  be  more  pleas- 
antly and  healthfully  employed  at  this  season. 

There  is  something  inexpressibly  luxurious  in  escaping  from 
the  clasp  of  dreary  winter,  without  even  a  day  of  intervening 
spring,  and  falling  into  the  soft  arms  of  summer  repose.  Over- 
coats and  sealskin  jackets  drop  off  as  if  by  magic,  and  each  pas- 
senger comes  out  from  his  chrysalis  in  a  new  dress. 

It  was  almost  sad  to  witness  the  calm  delight  of  some  in- 
valids who  had  left  home  with  the  fond  hope  that  health  would 
come  to  them  on  the  wings  of  the  mild  zephyrs  of  the  South, 
and  from  the  ozone  of  the  sea  air.  Alas  !  how  often  they  are 
disappointed  !  But  this  is  not  apparent  to  them  at  the  outset, 
and  they  flatter  themselves — and  the  well  meant  but  feigned 
encouragement  of  friends  aids  in  the  deception — that  they  are 
realizing  their  fond  expectations,  while  to  strangers  who  look  on 
with  quiet  sympathy,  the  hectic  flush,  the  glassy  eye  and  hollow 
cough  tell  the  story  of  inevitable  decline  and  death.  The  favor- 
able appearances  caused  by  milder  weather  are  evanescent;  and, 
as  the  flower  that  for  a  day  turns  its  grateful  face  to  the  sun  and 
dies  at  night  from  the  heat  it  has  courted,  the  consumptive 
becomes  enervated  by  what  at  first  seems  a  genial  warmth,  until 


4  THE  ROUND   TRIP. 

sooner  than  if  he  had  remained  at  home  he  falls  a  victim  to  a 
a  false  hope.  Too  often  the  physician,  fearful  that  the  patient 
may  die  on  his  hands,  thoughtlessly  recommends  the  trial  of  a 
warmer  climate,  when  change  of  any  kind  comes  too  late,  whereas, 
in  the  outset,  he  should  have  advised  a  person  of  delicate  lungs 
to  hasten  to  the  mountains  of  Colorado  or  Montana. 

On  the  21st  day  of  March,  four  days  from  New  York,  we 
passed  the  island  of  San  Salvador,  or  Watkins  Island,  as  it  is 
now  called,  with  disgraceful  disregard  of  the  renowned  discoverer, 
who  gave  its  original  name. 

Well  might  Columbus  have  hailed  this  low  islet  on  that 
eventful  morning  when  it  met  him,  in  advance  of  a  new  con- 
tinent, as  the  "Holy  Savior"  from  the  threatened  mutiny 
of  his  crew.  While  cities  of  the  old  world  have  contended 
for  the  honor  of  his  birth,  and  those  of  the  old  world  and  the 
new  have  in  turn  served  as  places  of  his  burial,  this  island  com- 
memorates the  most  important  event  of  his  life,  and  is  the  earli- 
est landmark  of  American  history.  It  would  be  a  fitting  tribute 
to  his  memory,  and,  moreover,  serve  as  a  guide  to  passing  nav- 
igators, if  the  American  republics  would  raise  upon  its  highest 
mound  a  high  and  enduring  monument  in  his  honor. 

"  Dear  me,"  exclaimed  a  young  lady,  as  we  were  running 
close  under  its  lee,  "so  that  is  the  island  discovered  by  Co- 
lumbus !  "  "Yes,  ma'am,"  replied  a  nautical  gentleman  at  her 
side,  "  and  that  large  house  on  the  height  is  the  one  first  occu- 
pied by  him.  He  was  married  to  the  Indian  princess  in  that 
church  at  the  foot  of  the  hill." 

"Oh,  how  lovely — how  romantic  it  must  have  been  !  I  am  so 
glad  you  told  me  !  " 

"  Why,  did  you  never  read  that  in  your  geography,  or  history 
of  America  ? " 


A   WINTER  TRIP  TO  CAIIFORNIA.  ^ 

"  Geography  ?  No  !  I  never  had  one,  and  histories  are  vulgar. 
You  know  they  are  all  written  in  English.  I  believe  they  do 
teach  them,  however,  at  the  primary  schools  in  Boston.  I  never 
heard  Emerson  or  Weiss  talk  about  such  things.  Oh,  don't 
you  think  that  Emerson  is  splendid?  How  he  takes  one  out  of 
one's  self,  and  lifts  the  soul  into  the  blue  empyrean  of  the  uni- 
verse, to  revel  in  the  realms  of  psychological  investigation  !" 

Passing  through  the  channel  that  separates  Cuba  from  St. 
Domingo  we  were  reminded  of  one  of  the  most  humiliating  events 
in  our  national  history — the  capture  of  the  "  Virginius  "  and 
the  unpardonable  submissiveness  of  the  United  States  govern- 
ment. The  cheek  of  every  American  should  blush  with  shame 
and  indignation  when  he  remembers  how  in  the  autumn  of  1874 
that  little  blockade-runner,  for  she  was  neither  more  nor  less, 
commanded  by  an  American  citizen  and  under  the  American 
flag,  unarmed  and  without  the  intention  of  her  captain  or  crew 
to  participate  in  active  hostilities,  was  captured  outside  of  the 
prescribed  distance  from  the  Cuban  shore  by  a  Spanish  gunboat, 
brought  into  a  Cuban  port,  and  her  captain  and  crew  shot  down 
without  a  trial  affording  opportunity  for  defense.  After  the 
deed  was  done  our  government  remonstrated,  we  used  diplomacy, 
months  passed  on  and  we  obtained  possession  of  a  useless  old 
hulk  for  future  adjudication,  and  purposely  allowed  her  to  sink 
off  Cape  Hatteras  to  avoid  further  trouble  with  "  a  friendly 
power." 

After  a  run  of  three  days  through  the  Caribbean  Sea,  we  ap- 
proached the  end  of  our  voyage  on  the  Atlantic  side.  On 
Sunday,  the  eighth  day  from  New  York,  land  at  Navy  Bay  hove 
in  sight,  and  at  an  early  hour  in  the  afternoon  we  made  the  port 
of  Aspinwall. 

With  what  infinite  delight  did  the  first  comers  to  the  tropics 


6  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

land  on  this  shore,  skirted  with  palms  and  bananas !  Lolling 
negroes,  chattering  monkeys,  croaking  papagayas,  piles  of  cocoa- 
nuts,  plantains,  oranges  and  pineapples,  thatched  shanties,  stag- 
nant ditches,  clouds  of  mosquitos — all  greeted  us  at  once  and 
welcomed  our  ship's  company  to  the  Isthmus  of  Panama. 

Aspinwall  is  the  American,  and  Colon  the  Spanish  name  for 
this  miserable  collection  of  huts,  containing  a  few  hundred  in- 
habitants. The  Panama  Railroad  Company  own  all  the  build- 
ings fit  for  dwellings  and  the  docks,  excepting  that  of  the  Pacific 
Mail  Steamship  Company.  A  church  where  English  service  is 
held,  is  the  only  public  edifice. 

Near  by  is  a  monument — of  no  especial  attractiveness — 
erected  to  Aspinwall,  Chauncey  and  Stephens,  the  founders  of  the 
Panama  Railroad.  Not  far  from  it  is  a  bronze  statue  of  Colum- 
bus, of  greater  artistic  merit,  deserving  a  site  where  it  might  be 
better  seen  and  appreciated.  It  was  a  present  from  the  Em- 
press Eugenie  to  this  little  town,  because  it  bore  the  name  of 
the  immortal  discoverer.  For  want  of  a  firm  foundation — 
difficult  to  find  in  this  miasmatic  swamp — it  is  blocked  up  with 
a  few  stones  upon  the  morass.  Here  it  serves  the  convenience 
of  washerwomen,  who  hang  their  clothes  upon  the  arms  and 
legs  of  Columbus  and  those  of  the  Indian  princess  who,  bending 
before  him,  represents  the  continent  on  which  he  lays  his  hand. 

"  So  that  is  the  princess  Columbus  married,"  exclaimed  Miss 
Culture,  of  Boston.  "  What  a  disgraceful  position  !  I  would 
not  stoop  to  any  man  in  that  way,  even  if  he  had  a  continent  to 
settle  upon  me." 

"The  dower  was  in  the  other  direction  ;  she  gave  the  con- 
tinent to  him,"  I  replied. 

"  More  shame  to  her,  then.  She  should  be  represented  as 
standing  thus  " — straightening  herself  to  the  utmost  of  her  little 


A   WINTER  TRIP  TO  CALIFORNIA.  7 

height — "  and  he  should  have  been  at  her  feet.  Woman  did  not 
understand  her  true  position  in  those  days."  Well,  she  has  a 
realizing  sense  of  it  now  ! 

On  the  passage  there  had  arisen  a  fierce  dispute  between  a 
testy  ex-Confederate  major,  of  Baltimore,  and  a  usually  quiet 
young  gentleman  of  San  Francisco,  regarding  the  pre-eminence 
of  their  respective  cities.  This  resulted  in  a  challenge  on  the 
part  of  the  military  hero,  which  was  promptly  accepted  by  the 
civilian,  and  an  appointment  made  for  a  meeting,  to  take  place 
as  soon  as  practicable  after  arrival.  To  do  the  major  justice,  he 
was  no  coward.  Preparing  for  a  result,  possibly  fatal  to  himself, 
with  a  steady  hand  he  drew  and  signed  his  will,  and  gave  direc- 
tions that  in  such  case  his  body  should  be  embalmed  and  sent  to 
his  relatives. 

A  little  party  left  the  steamer  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  the  outskirts  of  the  village,  where,  in  a  beautiful  spot 
under  the  shade  of  palms,  the  ground  was  selected  and  measured. 
Standing  fifteen  paces  apart,  the  antagonists  discharged  their 
pistols  simultaneously,  without  effect.  At  the  second  fire,  the 
Californian  brought  his  left  hand  to  his  forehead,  and  the  red 
current  was  seen  to  flow  from  between  his  fingers  as  he  fell  into 
the  arms  of  his  second. 

The  major  was  now  beside  himself,  actuated  equally  by  a 
feeling  of  remorse  and  a  regard  for  personal  safety.  Like 
Richard,  he  would  have  given  his  kingdom  for  a  horse — nay,  if 
he  had  possessed  a  kingdom,  he  would  have  given  it  for  a  mule 
— on  which  to  escape  into  the  wilderness. 

But  the  ship's  surgeon,  who  was  on  the  ground,  upon  examin- 
ing the  wound,  pronounced  it  only  a  concussion  of  the  os  frontis 
and  a  slight  abrasion  of  the  epidermis,  suggestive  of  no  serious 
consequences ;  and  as  all  the  requirements  of  honor  had  been 


8  THE  ROUND  TRIP 

satisfied,  everybody  returned  to  the  ship  in  a  happy  frame  of 
mind. 

The  doctor  placed  a  patch  upon  the  forehead  of  the  Cali- 
fornian,  which  disfigured  him  somewhat  on  his  appearance  at 
dinner ;  and  the  major  did  not  discover,  until  the  next  day,  when 
the  plaster  fell  off,  that  there  had  been  no  wound,  because  there 
had  been  no  bullets  in  the  pistols,  and  no  blood  had  been  shed, 
because  a  sponge,  saturated  with  red  ink,  had  been  used  for  the 
occasion. 


THE  IRIT  ACROSS   THE  ISTHMUS  OF  DARIEN,  ETC. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Trip  Across  the  Isthmus  of  Darien — The  Commerce 
of  the  Isthmus — Surveys  for  a  Canal — Panama  Rail- 
road Company — The  Terminus  on  the  Pacific  Side — 
Panama — Its  Eventful  History  —  Commerce  of  the 
City — British  Enterprise. 

Notwithstanding  the  insignificant  appearance  of  Panama, 
its  commercial  importance  cannot  be  overestimated.  The  Isth- 
mus of  Darien  holds  two  keys  in  its  hands  :  one  unlocking  the 
commerce  of  the  world  on  the  Pacific  side,  and  the  other  open- 
ing it  upon  the  Atlantic.  Eight  lines  of  steamships  keep  their 
vessels  loading  and  unloading  at  the  wharves,  and  millions 
of  treasure  and  merchandise  are  in  almost  daily  transit.  On 
the  week  of  our  arrival  80,000  bags — over  10,000,000  pounds 
— of  coffee  were  shipped  from  Aspinwall,  and  this  product  is 
but  a  small  part  of  its  commerce. 

The  country  about  produces  little  comparatively,  yet  a 
weekly  shipment  of  600  tons  of  bananas  is  not  a  trifling  opera- 
tion. All  the  trade  is  now  carried  over  the  Panama  Railroad, 
whose  construction  has  multiplied  it  a  thousand-fold. 

The  Panama  Railroad  and  the  Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Com- 
pany have  been  our  great  commercial  missionaries  in  these  latter 


10  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

days,  already  rivalling  in  their  work  the  steam  and  railroad  com- 
munication with  the  East  by  way  of  Suez.  Should  the  road  be 
succeeded  by  a  canal,  the  victory  would  be  complete.  The  sand 
might  then  be  allowed  to  fill  up  the  work  of  M.  Lesseps,  as  ages 
ago  it  filled  it  after  his  predecessor  under  the  Pharaohs,  had 
accomplished  a  similar  undertaking. 

It  is  now  freely  admitted  that  a  canal  across  the  isthmus  of 
Darien  is  practicable,  and  the  only  question  is  one  of  expense. 
Two  hundred  million  dollars  are  required  >and  the  great  republic 
that  could  spend  $4,000,000,000  in  a  civil  war,  nearly  one-half  of 
which  was,  in  one  way  or  another,  stolen  by  contractors  and  offi- 
cials, hesitates  about  this  comparatively  paltry  sum  !  If  the  work 
is  ever  accomplished,  it  will  be  done  by  British  capital,  for  the 
interest  of  British  commerce  that,  with  our  concurrence  of 
indifference,  now  dominates  the  globe.  How  mortifying  is  our 
commercial  decadence !  While  we  quarrel  about  the  personal 
claims  of  candidates  for  the  Presidency  and  the  small  politics  of 
the  day,  we  do  nothing  for  our  commerce  but  fetter  it  with 
new  shackles.  All  the  attention  we  have  given  to  our  ever- 
changing  tariffs  with  a  view  to  "protection,"  has  had  the  effect 
of  protecting  England  and  Germany  in  making  them  the  carriers 
of  the  ocean.  We  argue  that  man  can  rise  only  by  being  made 
free,  and  that  commerce  can  rise  only  by  having  its  freedom 
taken  away.  This  western  continent  is  ours  by  the  law  of  nature 
and  the  opportunity  of  neighborhood,  and  we  reject  the  boon 
which  Providence  brings  to  our  doors. 

England  is  our  great  rival,  and  Germany  is  becoming  a  rival 
not  to  be  despised.  Both  these  nations  encourage  their  manu- 
factures, not  by  protecting  mill-owners  in  order  to  keep  out  the 
goods  of  foreign  nations  ;  not  by  protecting  ship-builders  in  order 
that  other  people  who  can  build  cheaper  ships  may  steal  our 


THE  TRIP  ACROSS  THE  ISTHMUS  OF  DARIEN.  ETC.     n 

carrying  trade,  but  they  protect  their  subjects  with  the  surest  pro- 
tection— that  of  liberty:  liberty  to  buy  and  sell  every  thing, 
merchandise  and  ships  included,  in  the  most  favorable  markets 
of  their  own  selection. 

Still,  in  spite  of  the  neglect  of  our  government,  steamships 
and  railroads  are  introducing  our  manufactures  on  the  west 
coast  of  North  and  South  America,  while  England  is  bringing 
by  far  the  greater  quantity  of  cheaper  goods  in  cheaper 
ships.  Our  necessity  in  competition  is  to  diminish  the  cost 
of  both.  Reduce  our  tariff  so  that  the  operatives  of  Lowell 
can  live  at  the  same  expense  as  those  of  Manchester,  and 
repeal  at  once  the  odious  registry  laws,  so  that  Americans 
need  no  longer  be  the  only  subjects — and  I  use  the  word  inten- 
tionally— on  earth  who  cannot  own  a  steamship  without  paying 
one  or  two  Delaware  ship-builders  whatever  they  see  fit  to  de- 
mand for  whatever  kind  of  a  ship  they  see  fit  to  supply,  and 
then  we  shall  be  on  equal  terms  with  England.  This  done,  if 
the  canal  is  constructed,  we  shall  have  the  commerce  and  the 
carrying  trade  not  only  of  the  west  coast  of  America,  but  of  the 
world,  in  our  hands. 

The  late  explorations  for  a  canal  across  the  Isthmus  of 
Darien  have  been  no  improvements  upon  that  made  by  our 
distinguished  fellow-citizen,  the  late  William  Wheelwright,  whose 
enterprises  contributed  so  much  to  the  prosperity  of  the  South 
American  republics. 

About  the  year  1825,  Mr.  Wheelwright  ascended  the  Chagres 
River  and  took  an  informal  survey  of  the  isthmus,  with  a  view 
of  making  a  canal,  or  rather  of  demonstrating  that  the  project 
was  feasible.  He  selected  almost  the  identical  route  now  oc- 
cupied by  the  railroad,  tracing  a  line,  the  greatest  elevation  of 
which  was    a   little   over   200   feet.     Lloyd   Falmark,   Gavella, 


12  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

Courtines,  and  the  various  exploring  expeditions  authorized  by 
the  governments  of  England,  France,  and  the  United  States,  have 
succeeded  no  better,  and  if  ever  the  project  is  carried  out,  it 
will  doubtless  be  on  the  line  of  the  first  survey,  unless  the  Nica- 
raguan  scheme  should  be  adopted. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Panama  Railroad  Company  is  in  as- 
sured possession,  and  will  maintain  its  power  for  many  years  to 
come.  Its  profits  are  very  large  notwithstanding  the  enormous 
taxation  to  which  it  is  obliged  to  submit  to  meet  the  exactions 
of  the  government  of  New  Granada. 

The  greatest  difficulty  attending  all  enterprises  in  these 
regions  rises  from  the  instability  of  the  administrations.  The 
company  made  a  bargain  with  the  rulers  who  happened  to  be 
uppermost  at  the  time,  and  received  a  concession,  upon  the  con- 
dition of  paying  $250,000  annually;  but  in  various  ways,  such  as 
free  transportation  of  troops,  munitions,  etc.,  the  road  is  made  to 
pay  the  government  a  sum  equal  to  $1000  per  day,  a  severe  sub- 
traction from  its  receipts. 

It  is  the  custom  of  the  steamship  company  to  forward  its  pas- 
sengers and  fast  freight  immediately  by  railroad  to  Panama,  in 
time  to  meet  the  connecting  steamer — the  balance  of  the  cargo 
being  more  leisurely  carried  over,  to  be  shipped  in  the  succeed- 
ing one. 

Our  rate  of  progress  was  not  rapid,  nor  did  we  regret  its 
slowness.  Amidst  tropical  verdure  and  jungles  surely  breathing 
miasma  in  the  rainy  season,  and  along  the  banks  of  the  Chagres, 
now  almost  dry,  we  wound  at  the  rate  of  twelve  miles  an  hour, 
the  whole  distance  being  forty-eight  miles  to  the  terminus  on  the 
Pacific.  A  few  wretched  villages,  inhabited  by  half,  quarter  and 
other  fractional  breeds  of  the  Indian,  negro  and  Spanish  races, 
skirted  the  road.     We  occasionally  stopped  to  take  water  for  the 


THE  TRIP  ACROSS  THE  ISTHMUS  OF  DARIEN,  ETC.     13 

engine  and  fruit  for  ourselves,  in  which  novelty  many  indulged 
freely,  and  fortunately  without  inconvenience  ;  but  the  practice 
is  not  to  be  commended. 

Mr.  Mozly,  the  superintendent  of  the  road,  was  on  board 
the  train,  and  was  never  weary  in  answering  the  questions, 
for  which  he  had  ready  replies,  as  they  had  doubtless  been 
often  proposed  to  him  before.  Nevertheless,  our  obligations 
were  as  great  as  if  he  had  been  catechised  for  the  first 
time.  He  is  the  agent  of  the  Panama  Railroad  and  the  Pacific 
Mail  Steamship  Company,  these  corporations  being  connected 
with  each  other  in  some  way  mysterious  to  the  uninitiated,  but 
doubtless  satisfactory  to  those  most  interested. 

Totally  different  is  the  appearance  of  the  ancient  city  of  Pan- 
ama from  the  mushroom  town  of  Aspinwall.  It  is  built  of  stone 
and  brick,  in  distinction  from  adobe  and  palm-leaf  thatch.  Shorn 
of  its  former  splendor  and  wealth,  now  squalid  and  poor,  it 
still  presents  an  appearance  of  solidity  defying  the  total  ex- 
tinction which  a  tempest  might  bring  upon  the  other  town  in 
an  hour. 

The  streets  are  paved — if  huge,  irregular  bowlders  may  be 
styled  pavements — the  houses  are  of  a  thickness  intended  to 
ward  off  the  intense  heat,  and  churches,  abundant  in  all  Spanish 
towns  as  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn  itself,  although  many  of  them  are 
dilapidated  and  despoiled  of  their  former  glory,  remain  in  suf- 
ficient preservation  to  make  them  worthy  of  notice. 

For  us,  the  building  of  greatest  architectural  merit  was  the 
Grand  Hotel,  where  we  were  pleasantly  located  for  two  clays 
awaiting  the  readiness  of  the  "  China  "  to  receive  us  on  board. 
The  weather  was  far  from  oppressive,  and  the  time  passed  very 
agreeably  in  walks  by  day  about  the  town  and  in  evening  strolls 
upon  the  Alameda,  a  long  promenade  built  upon  the  seawall, 


1 4  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

against  which  the  waves  came  tumbling  over  long  reaches  of 
coral  reefs. 

The  present  city,  dwindled  from  its  former  prosperity  to  a 
town  of  10,000  inhabitants,  is  more  than  200  years  old,  and  yet 
is  young  compared  with  its  predecessor.  Old  Panama,  vestiges 
of  which  may  still  be  seen  overgrown  with  jungle,  now  the  abode 
of  serpents  and  wild  beasts,  was  founded  in  15 18.  It  was  the 
earliest  possession  of  Spain  on  the  shores  of  the  western  con- 
tinent, and  at  the  time  of  its  destruction  contained  more  than 
7,000  houses,  2,000  of  them  built  in  the  style  of  regal  palaces,  of 
the  finest  stone  and  the  variegated  woods  so  abundantly  produced 
in  this  country.  The  walls  of  these  sumptuous  residences  were 
adorned  with  costly  paintings  ;  statuary  imported  from  Italy 
graced  their  courts  surrounded  by  gardens  of  rare  exotics,  and 
the  streets,  tastefully  laid  out,  were  shaded  with  palms.  It  con- 
tained numerous  monasteries  and  convents,  and  its  churches  ex- 
ceeded in  magnificence  those  of  the  old  world.  All  this  was 
produced  by  an  abundance  of  silver  and  gold,  dug  not  only  from 
the  earth,  but  chiefly  stolen  from  the  natives  reduced  to  slavery 
by  their  cruel  taskmasters. 

The  day  of  retribution  came.  The  greedy  eyes  of  the  buc- 
caneers were  attracted  to  Panama,  the  stories  of  whose  wealth 
had  reached  their  ears.  As  the  Indians  had  been  the  game 
of  the  Spaniards,  so  in  their  turn  the  conquerors  became  the 
prey  of  the  English  freebooters.  After  a  terrible  battle,  old 
Panama  fell  into  the  hands  of  Morgan  and  his  ruthless  horde, 
on  the  27th  of  January,  167 1.  It  was  at  once  sacked  and 
destroyed,  the  plunderers  securing  an  immense  booty,  although 
the  Spaniards  had  fortunately  taken  the  precaution  to  place  the 
valuable  ornaments  of  the  churches  on  board  a  vessel,  which 
eluded  the  pursuit  of  the  invaders. 


THE  TRIP  ACROSS  THE  ISTHMUS  OF  DARIEN,  ETC.     15 

When  Morgan  took  up  his  march  to  return  across  the  isthmus, 
his  train  consisted  of  175  mules  packed  with  treasure,  and  600 
prisoners,  men  and  women.  Those  who  could  not  afford  to  pay 
the  ransom  demanded,  were  transported  to  Jamaica  and  sold  as 
slaves.  So  totally  was  the  city  razed  to  the  ground  that  the 
present  and  more  favorable  site,  six  miles  further  up  the  bay,  was 
chosen  for  a  new  location. 

This,  too,  being  attacked  by  the  buccaneers  from  sea  and 
land,  at  times  suffered  severely.  Then  came  the  separation  from 
Spain,  involving  repeated  capture,  until  at  last  a  nominal  inde- 
pendence was  secured,  which  makes  Panama,  like  all  Spanish 
republics,  the  occasional  theatre  of  riot  and  revolution,  and  will 
chain  the  wheels  of  progress  so  long  as  the  chariot  of  liberty  is 
drawn  on  its  uncertain  track  by  ignorance  and  superstition. 

The  railroad  terminating  at  Panama,  where  the  water  is  too 
shallow  to  allow  large  vessels  to  approach  the  wharf,  a  steamboat 
and  lighters  are  required  to  transport  passengers  and  freight  over 
a  distance  of  three  miles  to  the  roadstead  at  Flamenco  Island. 

This,  although  a  source  of  profit  to  the  road  of  more  than 
$50,000  annually,  is  by  no  means  a  satisfactory  arrangement  for 
the  passengers  and  owners  of  merchandise.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  the  company  will  soon  see  the  advantages  of  complying 
with  the  terms  of  their  charter,  and  completing  the  road  to  a 
more  convenient  terminus,  for  as  the  means  of  saving  no  little 
time  and  expense,  it  will  eventually  contribute  more  profit  than 
the  comparatively  slight  gains  from  lighterage  at  present. 

The  harbor  is  more  secure  than  that  of  Aspinwall,  where 

violent  northers  frequently  oblige  steamers  to  put  to  sea.     In 

the  smooth  waters  of  Panama  such  an  emergency  seldom  arises. 

Here  centres  the  traffic  of  the  whole  west  coast  of  North  and 

South  America,  most  of  it  coming  from  the  north  in  steamers  of 


jO  the  round  trip. 

the  Pacific  Mail  Company,  and  from  the  south  in  those  of  the 
British  Pacific  Steam  Navigation  Company. 

This  service  of  fifty-six  well  appointed  steamers,  sending  its 
semi-monthly  ships  from  England  through  the  straits  of  Magel- 
lan, and  thence  distributing  traffic  from  ports  in  various  connec- 
tions of  its  own  to  the  isthmus  of  Panama,  owes  its  origin  to  the 
same  energetic  American  whose  name  has  been  mentioned  in 
connection  with  the  first  survey  of  the  Panama  route  for  a  canal. 

In  1842,  unable  to  obtain  capital  at  home,  Mr.  Wheelwright 
formed  this  company  in  England,  and  brought  out  the  first 
steamers,  the  "  Peru  "  and  the  "  Chile,"  that  ever  ploughed  the 
waters  of  the  Pacific. 

Here  is  another  instance  of  British  enterprise  in  grasping 
trade  which  we  failed  to  secure  for  ourselves  when  the  means 
lay  in  our  power.  We  are  a  loud  mouthed  people.  We 
talk  of  what  we  have  done  in  carrying  out  the  "  Monroe  doc- 
trine" by  excluding  foreign  governments  from  our  continent, 
while  at  the  same  time  we  surrender  into  their  hands  our  com- 
merce— a  greater  power  than  is  wielded  by  the  scepters  of  their 
kings.  The  commerce  of  the  Central  American  States,  Mexico 
and  South  America,  has  more  than  doubled  within  the  past  three 
years.  Forty-five  thousand  tons  of  sugar  were  shipped  last  sea- 
son from  Peru,  all  for  the  English  market.  Being  of  a  high 
grade  it  is  virtually  prohibited  by  our  tariff. 

The  coast  line  of  the  British  Steam  Navigation  Company 
receives  a  subsidy  of  ^"1,800.  Their  ships  costing  one-third  less 
than  ours,  this  bonus  secures  to  them  an  absolute  monopoly. 


A  COMFORTABLE  OLD  SHIP,  ETC.  I? 


CHAPTER  III. 

A  Comfortable  old  Ship — Settling  a  Feminine  Dispute — 
"The  Pacific  Agitator" — Ports  and  Trade  of  Cen- 
tral America — Acapulco — Arrival   at    San  Francisco. 

However  ill-adapted  to  compete  with  more  modern  steamers 
in  profitable  business,  the  China  was  certainly  a  luxurious  home 
for  passengers.  She  possessed  every  requisite  excepting  speed, 
and  fastidious  must  he  have  been  who  could  find  fault  with  the 
ample  accommodations,  well  spread  table,  attentive  service,  and 
especially  with  the  courteous  captain  who  supervised  all  these 
comforts. 

No  travellers  can  so  well  understand  the  requisites  of  patience 
and  adaptability  in  a  packet  commander  as  those  who  have  been 
placed  in  the  position  themselves.  When  in  the  early  days  of 
California  gold  hunting  steamers  were  smaller  and  vastly  over- 
crowded with  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  these  qualities 
were  of  the  most  intrinsic  value,  but  notwithstanding  their  best 
exercise,  frequently  of  little  avail.  A  ship  was  often  a  pande- 
monium of  drunkenness  and  riot,  from  her  departure  until  her 
arrival.  Our  captain  had  passed  through  all  this  experience,  so 
that  he  was  abundantly  qualified  to  superintend  the  more  civilized 
company  now  under  his  care. 

His  was  a  calm  philosophy,  that  settled  a  dispute  between  two 


xg  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

elderly  ladies  who  occupied  the  same  stateroom.     On  a  night 
when  the  weather  was  intensely  hot.  one  of  them,  and  our  sympa- 
thies were  certainly  with  her,  desired  that  the  window  should 
remain  open.     The  other  wished  to  have  it  closed. 
"  I  must  have  it  open  !  "  exclaimed  the  first. 
"  I  will  have  it  shut !  "  cried  her  room  mate. 
The  altercation  at  length  became  so  violent  that  it  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  steward,  who  vainly  attempted  to  quell  the 
tumult. 

"  I  shall  die  if  that  window  is  shut !  "  vociferated  the  occu- 
pant of  the  lower  berth.  "  I  shall  die  if  it  is  open  !  "  screamed 
the  lady  overhead. 

"  Well,  ladies,"  said  the  patient  fellow,  who  had  no  patience 
equal  to  the  emergency,  "  I'll  report  to  Captain  Cobb,  and  see 
what  he  says." 

This  he  did  accordingly,  and  he  returned  with  the  decision, 
which,  to  my  mind,  equals  the  judgment  of  Solomon  in  the  case 
of  disputed  maternity. 

"  Ladies,"  said  he,  knocking  at  the  door,  "  the  captain  says 
I'm  to  open  the  port,  so  that  the  one  who  is  to  die  with  it  open 
may  die  as  soon  as  possible,  and  afterward  I'm  to  shut  it,  so  that 
the  other  will  die,  and  then,  ye  see,  you  can't  either  of  you  dis- 
pute any  more  about  it." 

With  an  exceptionally  long  voyage  of  twenty-three  days  still 
before  us,  we  cast  about  in  our  minds  every  expedient  to  make 
it  pass  agreeably.  Anticipating  a  pleasing  variety  in  the  frequent 
stoppages  on  the  way,  having  congenial  society  and  a  well- 
stocked  library,  our  only  want  seemed  to  be  news  from  the  outer 
world.     This  we  resolved  to  fabricate  for  ourselves. 

We  established  a  newspaper  styled  the  Pacific  Agitator.  It  is 
true  we  had  no  printing  press.    The  old  Athenians  had  none,  and 


A  COMFORTABLE  OLD  SHIP,  ETC.  19 

yet  there  must  have  been  a  public  reading  room  at  the  Areopa- 
gus, "  for  all  the  Athenians  and  strangers  which  were  there  spent 
their  time  in  nothing  else  but  either  to  tell  or  to  hear  some  new 
thing."  How  they  could  discover  new  things  in  any  other  way 
than  by  reading  newspapers,  we  of  this  generation  cannot  under- 
stand. It  is  certain  that  their  journals  were  not  printed,  but 
there  were  industrious  scribes  at  Athens,  and  such,  too,  there 
were  on  board  the  China. 

This  is  the  modest  editorial  of  the  Agitator:  "The  Pacific 
Agitator  is  the  outgrowth  of  a  feeling  of  ennui  inseparable  from 
a  long  voyage  at  sea.  Tt  is  a  pioneer  effort,  and  will  doubtless 
disclose  many  errors  more  or  less  serious,  but  which  indulgent 
readers  will  pardon,  both  because  of  the  brief  period  between 
the  conception  and  execution  of  the  plan,  and  the  inexperience 
of  those  who  control  its  destinies.  The  Agitator  will  be  issued 
from  time  to  time  during  the  trip  to  San  Francisco,  and  will  treat 
of  current  topics,  society  gossip,  light  literature,  together  with 
commercial  matters  of  interest  to  the  passengers.  The  editors 
solicit  contributions,  with  the  assurance  to  those  volunteering 
their  aid,  that  their  effusions  will  not  be  treated  with  the  con- 
temptuous indifference  usually  bestowed  by  caustic  editors.  We 
have  no  waste  basket ;  we  can't  afford  it  at  present.  Our  ex- 
changes are  exceedingly  limited,  and  this  journal  will  proba- 
bly contain  more  original  matter  to  the  square  inch  than 
can  be  found  in  any  newspaper  on  the  Pacific  slope." 

Our  telegraphic  reports  were  received  by  "  submarine  tubu- 
lar," and  were  necessarily  imaginative.  A  considerable  space 
was  devoted  to  advertisements,  the  amusement  column  announc- 
ing very  creditable  performances  of  Ethiopian  minstrels  and 
theatrical  entertainments.  Various  items  of  a  local  character, 
in  which  care  was  taken  to  avoid  personal  offense,  were  pleasing 


20  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

contributions,  and  the  illustrations  were  by  no  means  of  an  in- 
ferior order. 

This  being  the  "coffee  season,"  comprising  nearly  five  months 
of  active  trade,  it  was  expected  that  we  should  call  at  several 
small  ports  in  the  Central  American  States  to  receive  cargo. 
The  delay  was  an  unexpected  pleasure  rather  than  a  troublesome 
inconvenience. 

We  must  confess  that  the  oldest  part  of  the  continent  was 
the  least  known  and  the  most  new  to  us.  I  am  not  ashamed 
to  admit  that  I  was  ignorant,  in  common  with  so  many  of  my 
countrymen  at  the  North,  of  the  political  status  and  the  re- 
sources of  the  countries  lying  between  Mexico  and  South 
America.  We  have  a  general  impression  that  the  isthmus  of 
Panama  and  its  neighborhood  is  peopled  by  a  set  of  half- 
breeds,  whose  principal  business  it  is  to  quarrel  with  each  other 
and  with  themselves — and  in  this  we  are,  in  the  main,  correct. 
But  the  opportunities  of  our  voyage  somewhat  enlightened  us 
respecting  their  nationalities  and  their  commercial  importance. 

Panama  is  the  capital  of  a  State  of  the  same  name,  forming 
part  of  the  confederation  of  New  Grenada,  or  as  it  is  sometimes 
called,  the  United  States  of  Colombia.  These  comprise  an  area 
of  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  square  miles,  and  contain 
two  million  seven  hundred  thousand  inhabitants.  Its  chief  ex- 
ports are  gold,  silver,  coffee,  cocoa,  hides,  tobacco,  quinine,  india 
rubber  and  straw  hats,  valued  at  from  fifteen  to  twenty  million 
dollars  annually,  and  this  trade  naturally,  as  it  grows,  calls  for  a 
corresponding  amount  of  imports  from  Europe  and  America  in 
exchange. 

Although,  by  means  of  the  Panama  Railroad  and  the  Pacific 
Mail  steamship  line,  some  of  the  profits  are  secured  to  the  United 
States,  most  of  them  are  in  English  hands,  and  the  carriage  is 


A  COMFORTABLE  OLD  SHIP,  ETC.  2l 

by  British  steamers.  Trade  is  nominally  free,  there  being  no 
import  or  export  duties,  but  the  freedom  of  trade  like  the  free- 
dom of  the  people,  is  far  from  being  real.  The  merchant  pays 
no  impost  at  the  custom  house,  but  when  the  government  has 
need  of  money  he  is  politely  waited  upon  and  requested  to  make 
a  loan,  which  the  government  forgets  to  repay. 

This,  in  addition  to  the  local  taxes,  makes  free  trade  in 
Panama  somewhat  more  expensive  and  uncertain  than  our 
tariff  at  home.  We  know  precisely  how  much  we  have  to 
pay  for  the  enrichment  of  our  manufacturing  monopolists.  The 
merchants  in  these  regions  can  never  calculate  upon  the  de- 
mands that  may  be  made  upon  them.  It  makes  us  somewhat 
contented  with  our  own  system,  when  we  see  others  imposed 
upon  to  an  infinitely  greater  degree. 

Leaving  Panama,  we  skirt  along  the  coast  until,  in  the  83d 
degree  of  west  longitude,  we  reach  the  boundary  lines  of  the 
Central  American  republics.  There  is  no  confederation  here, 
each  of  the  five  States — Costa  Rica,  Nicaragua,  San  Salvador, 
Guatemala,  and  Honduras  (the  latter  being  entirely  on  the  At- 
lantic coast) — governing  themselves,  and  raising  revolutions  at 
their  pleasure.  In  all  of  them,  until  lately,  there  have  been  va- 
rious and  excessive  tariffs,  deranging  commerce  even  more  by 
their  inequality  than  by  their  enormity.  But  three  years  ago  Bar- 
rios, the  Dictator  of  Guatemala,  the  most  powerful  and  advanced 
of  all  these  States,  overcame  San  Salvador  and  Honduras,  his 
border  neighbors,  by  force  of  arms,  and  by  treaty  obliged  them 
both  to  conform  their  tariffs  to  those  of  Guatemala.  Although 
the  duties  amount  to  somewhat  over  50  per  cent,  and,  in  some 
instances,  to  100  per  cent  ad  valorem,  established  rates  render 
trade  more  secure,  and  offer  better  inducements  for  the  mer- 
chants to  remain. 


22  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

It  is  thought  that  San  Salvador  and  Honduras  will  be  united 
with  Guatemala,  and  that  they  will  eventually  bring  Nicaragua 
and  Costa  Rica  into  their  confederation.  A  good  government 
being  impossible  for  any  of  these  States,  a  strong  government  is 
next  in  order.  Self-government  appears  an  impossibility  for  the 
Spanish  race. 

The  condition  of  affairs  might  have  been  very  different  on  the 
Isthmus  of  Darien  had  success  attended  the  Scottish  Expedition 
of  1699. 

While  Drake,  Morgan,  and  other  buccaneers  had  been 
intent  upon  invasion  for  the  purpose  of  plunder,  the  honest 
Scots  came  to  buy  the  ground  from  the  aborigines,  and,  settling 
among  them,  endeavored  to  teach  them  the  religion  of  Christ 
and  the  arts  of  peace.  They  numbered  about  four  thousand  in 
all,  and  were  well  fitted  out  with  provisions  and  the  tools  of 
husbandry  necessary  to  success.  But  internal  dissensions,  first 
incited  by  fanatics  among  them,  who  insisted  upon  a  government 
founded  on  church  polity,  with  the  jealousy  of  the  Spaniards, 
and  the  same  feeling  on  the  part  of  their  own  countrymen  con- 
nected with  the  East  India  Company,  who  ridiculously  imagined 
their  rights  interfered  with,  soon  brought  the  new  colony  to 
grief,  and  caused  the  final  abandonment  of  the  scheme. 

Had  every  thing  gone  well,  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  instead  of 
the  Latin,  might  now  have  peopled  the  isthmus,  and  we  should 
have  been  able  to  solve  the  problem  of  the  demoralization  of 
Europeans  in  the  tropics.  We  should  have  known  if  this  is  at- 
tributable to  the  fault  of  particular  races,  or  to  the  physical 
weakness  of  mankind  in  general,  when  transported  to  uncon- 
genial climes. 

Our  good  ship,  as  intimated,  makes  no  pretensions  to  speed 
She  starts  upon  her  course  at  the  rate  of  eight  knots  per  hour, 


A  COMFORTABLE  OLD  SHIP,  ETC.  2$ 

having  on  board  700  tons  of  coal,  800  tons  of  cargo,  and  80 
cabin  passengers,  100  steerage  passengers,  and  a  crew  of  120 
men,  100  of  whom  are  Chinese.  These  men  are  excellent  fire- 
men, cooks,  and  waiters,  and  although  not  equal  to  Europeans 
in  point  of  seamanship,  answer  all  the  requirements  of  a  steam- 
ship in  this  respect.  They  are  orderly  and  generally  obedient. 
When  they  are  otherwise,  it  is  only  necessary  to  tie  them  to- 
gether with  their  tails,  and  mutiny  is  instantly  quelled  by  a 
threat  of  cutting  off  these  hair  pennants.  Their  wages  are  about 
half  those  that  white  men  demand,  and  the  same  ratio  holds 
good  for  their  food. 

Our  first  stop  was  at  Puntas  Arenas,  the  chief  seaport  of  Costa 
Rica,  which  we  reached  on  the  31st  of  March,  two  days  after 
leaving  Panama.  It  has  one  of  the  best  harbors  on  the  coast. 
As  for  the  town,  the  enchantment  lent  by  distance  was  quite 
lost  when,  on  landing,  we  were  nearly  stifled  with  the  heat,  and 
saw  nothing  but  a  few  huts  and  their  wretched  inhabitants.  Of 
this  town,  and  of  the  others  at  which  we  touched,  it  is  sufficient 
to  say  that  Aspinwall  is  a  favorable  specimen.  There  are  about 
six  hundred  people  in  the  village,  a  few  of  whom  are  employed 
in  carrying  coffee  to  the  wharf  and  lightering  it  to  the  ship, 
while  the  others  are  actively  engaged  looking  on.  Here  we  re- 
mained two  days,  and  received  on  board  9,150  bags  of  coffee; 
and  proceeded  to  our  next  port  of  Libertad,  on  the  coast  of 
San  Salvador.  '  This  is  an  open  roadstead,  and  although  a 
strong  iron  wharf  projects  far  out  into  the  sea,  the  surf  rolls  in 
unceasingly,  causing  the  boats  to  toss  and  surge  in  a  style  that 
renders  loading,  and  even  landing  of  passengers,  difficult,  and 
at  times  dangerous.  Receiving  here  900  bags,  we  next  called 
at  San  Jose,  a  port  of  Guatemala,  about  the  same  size  as  Libertad, 
both  smaller  in  population  than  Puntas  Arenas,  but  all  of  com- 


24  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

mercial  value  as  ports  of  entry  to  their  respective  republics. 
Here  we  received  2,500  bags,  and  sailed  on  the  5th  of  April,  hav- 
ing completed  all  our  business  with  the  Central  American  States. 
Fortunately,  the  Americans  have  control  of  the  carrying  trade  of 
these  more  northern  republics,  although  the  percentage  of  mer- 
chandise imported  is  in  favor  of  Great  Britain. 

A  Spanish  merchant,  who  took  passage  with  us  at  San  Jose, 
says  that  this  is,  in  great  measure,  owing  to  the  readiness  of 
the  English  to  comply  with  the  wishes  of  buyers  by  packing 
goods,  according  to  their  desire,  for  mule  carriage ;  whereas  the 
New  York  or  San  Francisco  merchants  tell  them  to  take  the 
large  bales  and  boxes  and  pack  them  to  suit  themselves.  "  Our 
people,"  he  naively  remarked,  "  do  not  like  so  much  trouble. 
They  prefer  other  people  should  take  it  for  them." 

When  we  consider  that  the  population  of  all  this  region  num- 
bers three  millions,  who  have  so  much  to  give  us  in  return  in  cof- 
fee, indigo,  and  other  products — coffee  alone  amounting  to  25,000 
tons  annually — we  surely  should  endeavor  to  secure  such  a 
valuable  trade.  There  is  no  limit  to  the  production  of  coffee  in 
the  Central  American  States. 

We  made  no  stop  at  any  of  the  Nicaraguan  ports,  but  kept 
on  our  way  to  Acapulco,  where  we  arrived  on  the  9th  of  April, 
for  coaling  purposes. 

This  is  a  town  of  modern  decadence  from  ancient  commercial 
prosperity.  Like  Panama,  it  has  the  remains  of  architectural 
splendor  gone  to  even  greater  decay.  Its  port  must  have  been 
formed  by  some  volcanic  freak  of  upheaval  and  explosion  into  its 
present  commodious  basin.  In  its  safe  and  land-locked  harbor, 
a  hundred  ships  may  ride  quietly  at  their  moorings  in  its  smooth 
waters,  while  tempests  rage  and  seas  lash  the  shores  without. 

The  Spaniards  discovered  it  at  an  early  date  of  their  con- 


A  COMFORTABLE  OLD  SHIP,  ETC.  25 

quest,  and  put  it  to  a  practical  use.  Being  only  180  miles  south- 
west from  the  City  of  Mexico,  which  conducted  its  business  with 
Spain  from  Vera  Cruz,  Acapulco  became  the  depot  of  Spanish 
trade  with  the  Manila  colonies.  Here  were  fitted  out  the  galleons 
which  often  became  such  valuable  prizes  for  the  buccaneers, 
but  more  frequently  carried  their  treasures  of  silver  safely  to 
the  Indies,  and  brought  in  return  silks  and  spices,  to  be  trans- 
ported overland  to  Vera  Cruz.  When  they  arrived,  the  Mexi- 
can merchants  assembled  at  great  fairs,  that  were  held  for  com- 
petition, and  business  must  have  been  infinitely  more  active 
than  at  present.  Now,  a  Pacific  Mail  steamer  occasionally  calls 
to  receive  her  coal,  while  her  passengers  do  a  little  shopping  for 
oranges  and  bananas. 

In  the  rainy  season,  the  high  hills,  sloping  down  to  the  bay 
on  all  sides,  are  covered  with  verdure.  In  the  ravines  we  could 
see  cultivated  estancias  and  groves  of  trees,  whose  abundant 
yield  supplied  the  market  with  delicious  fruit.  Having  every 
thing  so  liberally  bestowed  upon  them  by  nature,  the  people 
have  no  necessity  to  labor  to  support  existence.  Lying  upon  the 
ground  or  swinging  in  hammocks,  they  doze  through  days  and 
nights  all  merged  together  in  their  estimate  and  employment  of 
time.  Too  lazy  to  be  vicious,  too  ignorant  to  be  responsible, 
their  future  cannot  be  one  of  punishment  or  reward.  We  can 
imagine  nothing  in  reserve  for  them  but  annihilation. 

Leaving  Acapulco,  we  soon  steered  in  a  more  northerly 
direction,  coming  into  a  cooler  atmosphere,  and  though  gen- 
erally at  a  greater  distance  from  the  land,  higher  peaks  became 
visible,  and  sometimes  the  smoke  of  volcanoes  ascending 
from  their  craters.  The  whole  shore  assumed  a  wilder  and 
more  desolate  aspect,  and  for  the  remaining  ten  clays  of  the 
passage  there  was  little  or  no  verdure  to  attract  the  eye.     We 


26  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

had  left  the  tropics.  When  within  four  hundred  miles  of  our 
port,  a  fierce  northwester,  culminating  in  a  gale  unexpected  on 
an  ocean  supposed  to  be  always  pacific,  materially  impeded  the 
China's  progress.  At  last,  however,  on  the  twenty-third  day 
from  Panama,  and  thirty-fifth  from  New  York,  the  Golden  Gate 
was  before  her,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  21st  of  April  she 
anchored  in  the  splendid  bay  of  San  Francisco. 

In  this  account  of  the  voyage,  I  have  endeavored  to  give 
some  commercial  information,  which,  it  is  hoped,  may  prove 
of  value.  All  that  we  need,  and  all  that  we  ask  from  our 
Government,  is  the  freedom  in  trade  that  is  accorded  to  other 
nations,  so  that  every  American  citizen  may  stand  upon  equal 
terms  with  their  subjects.  Our  own  energy  can  accomplish  the 
the  rest.  This  investigation  has  been  the  chief  piece  de  resistance 
of  the  narrative — the  little  entremets  of  the  trip,  made  up  of  the 
episodes  of  daily  life,  serve  to  garnish  it,  so  that  the  whole  may 
be  digested  as  a  palatable  meal.  I  have  desired,  withal,  to  show 
what  resources  may  make  a  passage  enjoyable,  and  can  hold  a 
a  company  of  eighty  people  in  a  bond  of  union  strong  enough  to 
overcome  the  little  distinctions  of  society,  born  of  exclusiveness, 
but  driven  out  of  existence  by  mutual  forbearance  and  good  will. 
We  all  agreed,  and  I  hope  my  readers  will  be  of  the  same  mind, 
that  there  is  a  pleasant  variety  in  coming  to  San  Francisco,  via 
Panama. 


CALIFORNIA. 


27 


CHAPTER  IV. 


CALIFORNIA. 


A  Fable — A  Reminiscence  of  1848 — The  Comparative 
Production  of  Gold  and  Silver — The  Career  of  James 
C.  Flood,  one  of  the  Bonanza  Kings. 

The  hungry  Seyd  Ibrahim  drew  his  bow,  and  his  successful 
shaft  brought  down  a  great  bird  to  his  feet.  Ravenous  for  food, 
he  tore  open  his  prey,  and  to  his  astonishment  discovered  a 
sparkling  diamond  in  its  maw.  "  Now,  God  be  praised  !  "  he 
exclaimed,  as  he  threw  the  bird  away,  "  for  we  are  rich ! " 
"  Can  we  eat  the  diamond  ?  "  asked  the  practical  Zulima.  Ibra- 
him's senses  returned  to  him,  and  the  fortunate  pair  first  made 
a  hearty  meal,  and  then,  recovering  their  strength,  were  able 
to  go  to  the  bazaar  with  the  jewel,  which  but  for  the  food  that 
accompanied  it  would  have  been  of  no  more  value  than  a 
stone. 

When  California  came  into  our  possession  we  craved  it  for 
the  advantage  it  might  bring,  not  only  as  an  extension  of  our 
boundary,  but  as  a  field  for  pasturage  and  agriculture,  and  for 
its  forests  of  timber.  Its  mineral  wealth  did  not  enter  into  con- 
sideration, for  it  was  undiscovered.     As   Ibrahim    opened  his 


28  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

bird,  so  we  forthwith  began  to  open  the  country,  and  as  he  dis- 
covered his  jewel,  we  became  crazy  over  our  unexpected  gold. 
The  hoe  was  abandoned  for  the  pick.  The  cattle  were  allowed 
to  range  at  their  pleasure,  the  woodman  ceased  to  penetrate 
the  wilderness,  ships  were  deserted  to  rot  in  the  bay,  and  every 
body  cried  "  now  God  be  praised,  for  we  are  rich  ! " 

Although  not  "a  forty-niner,"  I  have  my  reminiscences  of  those 
days.  I  happened  to  be  at  Manila  in  the  spring  of  1848,  having 
arrived  there  by  way  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Just  then  came 
into  port  the  first  ship  that  had  succeeded  in  getting  away  from 
San  Francisco — the  Rhone.  She  brought  the  news  of  the  gold 
discoveries,  and  fired  the  colony  with  the  same  intense  desire 
that  inflamed  the  Spaniards  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  fever 
extended  to  China  and  down  the  coast  to  the  Straits,  where  it 
met  the  flow  of  news  rolling  in  from  the  East,  and  thus  the  whole 
world  was  made  to  feel  the  tidal  wave. 

The  captain  of  the  Rhone  told  us  that  he  was  obliged  to  pay 
his  sailors  two  hundred  dollars  a  month  to  induce  them  to 
leave  San  Francisco.  "  I  took  off  my  hat  then  to  Jack,"  said 
he.  "  Meeting  an  old  shellback  on  the  beach,  I  asked  him  if 
he  did  not  want  a  voyage."  "Where's  yer  ship?"  he  asked  in 
the  most  independent  style.  "There  she  is,"  I  replied,  meekly 
pointing  to  the  vessel  in  the  roads.  "  Here,  what'll  you  take 
for  your  old  craft  ?  "  asked  Jack  as  he  pulled  a  handful  of  nug- 
gets from  his  pocket,  "  I'll  buy  her  of  you  !  " 

John  A.  Sutter  was  the  hero  of  a  revolution  in  civilization. 
The  first  discoverer  of  the  gold  at  the  "  Mill  Race  "  is  yet  living, 
and  his  fate  is  an  example  of  those  who  in  adding  to  the  wealth 
of  nations  have  impoverished  themselves.  He  has  still  his  un- 
audited claims  before  the  government  for  supplies  furnished  the 
army  in  the  early  days  when  by  his  means  the  infant  settlement 


CALIFORNIA.  29 

was  preserved  from  Indian  depredations.  If  the  matter  ever 
reaches  a  Congressional  Committee,  it  is  quite  possible  that  it 
will  be  rejected  on  the  same  ground  with  the  French  claims — 
that  the  claimants  are  all  dead,  and  if  he  is  not  dead,  he  ought 
to  be,  for  he  is  very  old.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  a  member 
of  Congress  is  never  too  old  to  get  his  mileage  and  pay. 

It  is  now  only  thirty-one  years  since  Sutter's  men  brought 
him  a  handful  of  glittering  sand  found  in  the  mill  sluice,  and 
from  that  day  till  the  close  of  1878,  the  product  of  gold  and 
silver  has  been  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty  nine  mil- 
lions from  the  Pacific  Slope.  It  is  a  common  mistake  to  sup- 
pose that  the  production  is  regularly  increasing. 

From  an  interesting  table  of  statistics  compiled  by  the  editor 
of  the  San  Francisco  Commercial  Herald,  it  appears  that  the 
greatest  yield  was  in  1853,  namely,  sixty-eight  millions.  In 
1875  it  was  the  smallest  since  1848,  namely,  seventeen  million 
seven  hundred  thousand. 

But  I  believe  with  Zulima  that  the  flesh  of  the  bird  is  of  more 
value  than  the  diamond  it  had  swallowed,  and  intend  to  show 
how  the  wealth  of  California  is  to  be  found  in  its  soil  rather  than 
under  its  mountains  and  in  its  gulches. 

One  day  we  called  upon  James  C.  Flood.  Who  has  not 
heard  of  the  raid  of  Flood  &  O'Brien  on  the  Bank  of  Cali- 
fornia and  the  tragic  death  of  Ralston  consequent  upon  that 
time  of  excitement  ? 

I  asked  Mr.  Flood  if  all  this  was  true. 

"  All  was  a  lie,"  he  said.  "  Ralston  was  a  good  fellow  ;  he  died, 
I  don't  know  how — well,  the  coroner's  jury  gave  its  verdict,  but 
I  tell  you  this  :  I  did  not  drive  him  to  it.  He  owed  me  a  great 
deal  of  money,  and  only  two  days  before  his  death  he  told  me 
he  was  in  trouble,  and  asked  me  not  to  present  a  check  of  his 


3o  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

for  $200,000  which  I  held.  I  kept  my  word,  and  when  I  heard 
of  the  run  on  the  bank,  although  I  knew  it  would  go  down,  I 
did  not  call  for  my  money.  He  was  my  friend.  Some  news- 
papers are  not  my  friends,  for  they  lie  about  me." 

Mr.  Flood  is  a  representative  miner,  I  mean  of  the  successful 
class.  The  bar-room  loafer,  the  convict,  the  suicide  represents 
an  infinitely  larger  constituency. 

This  fortunate  gentleman  is  somewhat  over  fifty  years  of  age, 
of  robust  appearance  and  pleasing  address.  He  was  ready  to 
answer  all  our  questions,  and,  moreover,  volunteered  some  inci- 
dents of  his  personal  history,  which  I  reproduce  in  brief;  for 
people  like  to  hear  how  a  "  self-made  man  "  made  himself  out 
of  nothing  into  a  golden  image  of  the  value  of  twenty-five  mil- 
lions of  dollars. 

"I  came  out  here,"  he  said,  "  in  1849.  I  was  a  coachmaker 
by  trade,  and  readily  adapted  myself  to  the  business  of  a  car- 
penter, at  which  I  earned  sixteen  dollars  a  day.  But  I  had  the 
gold  fever  like  all  the  rest,  and  so  I  struck  out  for  the  mines. 
Well,  we  had  a  rough  time  that  winter.  It  was  as  much  as  we 
could  do  to  dig  ourselves  out  of  the  snow  without  digging  much 
gold.  But  I  stuck  to  it  and  I  made  three  thousand  dollars.  I 
thought  I  was  rich,  and  so  I  went  home  and  took  my  family  out 
west,  where  I  bought  a  farm.  I  soon  found  that  three  thousand 
dollars  was  not  a  fortune.  Accordingly  we  sold  out,  packed  up 
and  came  here  again.  I  went  into  business,  was  successful  at 
first,  then  went  under  owing  $4,000.  I  earned  that  money  and 
paid  up.  From  one  thing  to  another  I  got  into  the  Hale  and 
Norcross  mine,  and  that  gave  me  my  first  big  start.  I've  been 
in  the  mining  business  ever  since.  I  never  bought  a  share  of 
stock  that  I  did  not  pay  for  and  take  away.  I  never  sold  a 
share  short.     Mining  is  a  risk,  any  way,  but  it  is  a  risk  almost 


CALIFORNIA.  3I 

always  the  wrong  way  to  people  who  speculate  on  margins. 
You  ask  me  about  the  Bonanzas.  Well,  I  believe  in  them  ;  but 
you  need  not  pin  your  faith  on  me.  I've  a  right  to  do  what  I 
like  with  my  own  money.  I've  got  a  comfortable  home  for  my 
little  family,  and  so  I  spend  what  I  don't  want  for  marketing 
and  clothes  in  Bonanzas.  As  to  these  mining  boards,  I  don't 
care  if  the  Stock  Exchange  closes  to-morrow  and  there  is  never 
another  share  bought  or  sold.  If  the  mines  fail,  why  then  I'll 
take  the  money  I've  got  out  of  them  and  set  the  timber  on  fire, 
and  that  will  be  the  end.  No,  don't  go,  I'm  not  busy — I'm 
never  busy  now.  I  was  busy  when  I  had  to  scull  round  to  get 
five  dollars.  Now  I  can  afford  to  pay  my  clerks  and  talk  with 
my  friends."  In  this  style  he  ran  on  for  an  hour  or  two,  and 
then  our  own  business  called  us  away,  for  we  do  not  possess 
twenty-five  millions  of  dollars,  and  cannot  afford  to  pay  clerks 
for  collecting  our  money. 


32 


THE  ROUND  TRIP. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Leaving  for  Southern  California — The  Pious  Agricul- 
turist— Great  and  Small  Farmers — Irrigation — Ridi- 
cule of  Fever  and  Ague — A  California  Editor's  Home- 
stead. 

On  the  19th  May,  crossing  the  ferry  to  Oakland,  we  took 
a  palace  car  at  4:30  p.m.,  bound  on  a  trip  over  the  South- 
ern Pacific  Railroad.  It  may  be  premised  that  this  road,  which 
had  been  gradually  extending  for  the  last  five  years  until  it  had 
reached  Yuma,  in  the  territory  of  Arizona,  a  distance  of  seven 
hundred  and  fifteen  miles,  is  the  conception  and  work  of  Gov- 
ernor Stanford  and  his  associates,  who  built  the  Central  Pacific 
and  various  other  lines  in  the  state,  and  whose  surplus  capital  is 
always  expended  in  public  works  of  this  character.  They  are 
regarded  as  the  monopolists  of  California  by  some  who  consider 
themselves  oppressed.  I  do  not  suppose  that  such  people  could 
be  convinced  of  their  error  unless  the  rails  should  be  taken  up, 
the  grades  destroyed,  and  travel  again  performed  by  wagons  and 
pack  mules.  Doubtless  these  few  gentlemen  have  made  princely 
fortunes  by  the  success  of  the  Central  Pacific,  which  would  not 
have  been  built  but  for  their  energy  and  perseverance.  They  have 
developed  the  resources  of  Nature,  and  Nature  has  rewarded  them 


LEAVING  FOR  SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA,  ETC.  -x>Z 

for  their  outlay.  Their  present  enterprise  is  of  a  similar  char- 
acter. They  are  again  planting  ties  and  rails,  the  seeds  of  an- 
other fortune,  if  the  enormous  outlay  is  successful.  I  do  not 
believe  that  their  harvest  will  be  a  failure,  but  should  it  prove 
so,  will  the  men  who  envy  their  past  profits  repay  them  for  their 
future  losses  ?  Not  so.  Capital  takes  its  risk,  and  in  either 
case  is  entitled  to  its  results. 

All  days  are  delightful  here.  We  are  in  love  with  the  climate 
excepting  when  we  have  a  lover's  quarrel,  and  the  weather  gives 
us  a  cold  shoulder  as  the  northwesters  whistle  through  the 
streets  of  San  Francisco.  But  these  little  "  spats "  are  soon 
over,  and  the  gentle  zephyrs  woo  us  again  as  they  did  on  this 
charming  afternoon.  We  were  drawn  for  miles  through  gardens 
and  orchards,  passing  the  country  seats  of  the  wealthy  and  the 
more  modest  dwellings  of  less  pretension  in  the  display  of  grassy 
lawns  and  smoothly  rolled  driveways,  but  whose  taste  was  equally 
shown  in  the  ornamental  culture  of  roses  and  other  flowers  of 
sweet  perfume  everywhere  abounding.  When  we  see  the  vines 
twining  about  a  poor  man's  house,  and  shade  trees  planted  by  his 
line  of  road,  we  place  a  higher  estimate  on  his  character  than  on 
that  of  his  neighbor  who  in  his  bare  walls  is  mean  to  himself,  to 
those  around  him,  and  to  posterity.  Where  there  were  contri- 
vances for  artificial  watering  everything  was  green  and  luxuriant, 
but  as  we  emerged  into  the  open  country  the  unusual  dryness  of 
the  previous  winter  showed  its  impress  upon  the  soil. 

"  I  don't  know  if  Providence  does  it  accidentally  or  on  pur- 
pose," said  one  of  the  inhabitants,  "  but  the  rain  is  beneficial  to 
the  soil  and  not  hurtful  to  man  ;  when  it  comes  it  is  generally 
in  the  night,  and  I  think  that  would  be  a  good  arrangement 
everywhere,  as  people  would  get  all  the  advantage  without  being 
put  to  inconvenience." 


34  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

At  the  East  the  fields  assume  their  most  exquisite  verdure  in 
May  and  June.  Here  they  were  putting  off  their  green  dress  and 
clothing  themselves  like  autumn.  The  grain  was  fast  ripening, 
and  was  nearly  ready  for  the  sickle.  It  is  cut  when  ours  is 
scarcely  out  of  the  ground.  It  needs  no  barns  or  storehouses. 
It  lies  where  it  grew  until  it  suits  the  convenience  of  the  farmer 
to  thresh  it  and  carry  it  to  market.  He  knows  that  no  rain  will 
fall,  for  he  can  trust  Providence,  who  in  summer,  as  in  winter, 
arranges  every  thing  for  the  good  of  the  Californian.  "  The  Lord 
did  seem  to  go  back  on  us  this  year,"  said  the  old  farmer,  "for 
we  shall  have  only  a  small  crop  ;  but  he  is  making  up  for  it," 
added  the  pious  man,  "  by  letting  'em  get  into  a  war  in  Europe, 
so  that  the  price  of  wheat  is  likely  to  be  doubled.  He  does  all 
things  well  !  " 

Gradually  our  speed  was  diminished  as  we  ascended  the 
grade  surmounting  the  ''  Coast  range,"  that  little  extra  backbone 
running  from  north  to  south  through  this  part  of  the  State,  and 
dividing  the  last  slope  to  the  Pacific  from  the  great  valley  of  San 
Joaquin  and  its  southern  continuations.  In  the  dry  season  the 
water  slope  fares  better  than  that  inclining  to  the  valleys,  for 
the  mists  distilled  from  the  sea  lend  it  their  gentle  influence  in 
almost  every  month  of  the  year.  There  are  the  prolific  vegeta- 
ble gardens  of  the  thrifty  Italians  and  Chinese  who  supply  the 
daily  San  Francisco  market.  They  are  in  a  small  line  of  busi- 
ness compared  with  the  rancheros  of  many  thousand  acres,  but 
they  manage  by  hard  toil  to  gather  in  a  sure  harvest  of  dollars 
in  return  for  their  light  truck.  If  the  receipts  of  the  "  Italian 
market "  could  be  estimated,  they  would  be  found  to  swell  to  an 
enormous  amount,  divided  among  these  small  farmers,  who  are 
independent  of  the  large  landholders. 

The  land  of  the  interior,  where  irrigation  is  a  necessity,  nat- 


LEAVING  FOR  SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA,  ETC.  35 

urally  falls  into  the  possession  of  those  who  are  able  to  improve 
it.  The  farmer  of  moderate  means  is  obliged  either  to  take  up 
his  quarter  section  in  a  district  where,  in  a  dry  season,  his  crop 
may  be  a  total  loss,  or  to  avail  himself  at  higher  prices  of  land 
reclaimed  by  capitalists.  It  is  cheaper  for  him  to  acquire  by  the 
last  method  a  small  property  of  forty  acres  than  to  be  the  owner 
of  three  times  the  area  free  of  cost.  To  say  nothing  of  the 
comparatively  small  productions  from  land  dependent  solely 
upon  rain  in  ordinary  seasons,  experience  has  demonstrated  that 
they  are  absolute  failures  in  three  years  out  of  ten.  Unfor- 
tunately the  year  1877  was  one  of  them.  Some  large  proprietors 
and  many  small  landholders  on  the  uplands  became  bankrupt, 
but  all  farmers  of  either  class  whose  soil  was  irrigated  profited 
by  the  misfortunes  of  their  neighbors. 

We  descend  rapidly  from  the  Coast  Range  elevation  to  the 
San  Joaquin  Valley.  This  is  one  of  the  greatest  agricultural 
districts  of  California,  a  plateau  including  the  Tulare  and  the 
Kern  Valleys,  geographically  appertaining  to  it,  three  hundred 
miles  in  length,  and  an  average  of  thirty-five  in  width,  not  com- 
prising the  bench  hills  mounting  on  either  side  to  the  coast  and 
Sierra  Nevada  ranges.  If  Providence  would  contrive  every 
thing  to  suit  Californians  it  would  make  every  man  a  millionaire 
without  labor,  and  every  stock  gambler  among  them  a  successful 
operator. 

Unfortunately  for  this  people,  however,  nature  has  left  a  little 
something  for  them  to  do.  They  have  a  magnificent  climate,  an 
atmosphere  of  elastic  health,  gold  and  silver  mines,  and  rich  soil 
capable  of  producing  the  utmost  that  Mother  Earth  can  bestow. 
For  the  gold  and  silver  the  Californian  has  always  been  willing 
to  dig,  but  he  has  asked  of  the  soil  to  yield  its  increase  with  the 
smallest  demand  upon  him  for  labor.     He  has  not  ploughed  the 


36  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

land,  but  he  has  scratched  the  dirt,  carelessly  dropped  his  seed, 
expecting  an  abundant  crop,  which  in  this  way  he  sometimes 
gets ;  and  then  he  is  not  satisfied,  for  he  is  apt  to  make  the  field 
do  its  own  work  afterward  as  a  "  volunteer."  Eastern  farmers 
come  out  here  and  lecture  the  Calfornian.  They  tell  him  he  is 
exhausting  the  ground  by  repeated  sowing  of  wheat.  He  says 
he  knows  that,  but  land  is  plenty,  and  when  it  is  exhausted  he 
will  go  for  more.  They  tell  him  to  plough  deeper  for  a  moister 
soil.  He  says  that  is  all  nonsense.  It  may  be  necessary  in 
Massachusetts,  but  it  is  not  so  here.  It  takes  too  much  time 
and  labor.  In  short,  he  will  receive  no  lesson  from  any  thing 
but  a  good  square  ruinous  drought.  That  is  the  lesson  he  has 
had,  and  he  has  resolved  to  profit  by  it. 

Here,  now,  is  this  beautiful  far-famed  San  Joaquin  Valley, 
seven  years  out  of  ten  nodding  its  myriads  of  wheaten  heads 
in  the  breeze,  ready  to  fall  before  his  hand,  and  to  be  garnered 
for  the  market — now  a  scorched  and  desolate  plain.  Provi- 
dence did  not  send  down  its  rain,  nor  has  it  made  a  sufficiency 
of  streams  to  gush  from  the  canons  on  either  side  and  fertilize  the 
valley.  The  Californian  must  do  it  himself,  and  when  he  finds 
he  must  do  a  thing  he  does  it  with  a  will. 

A  variety  of  plans  for  irrigation  are  now  contemplated,  but 
they  all  look  to  watering  this  immense  tract  of  land  by  taking 
supplies  from  the  Kern  and  Tulare  Lakes  at  the  southern  end 
of  the  valley,  and  carrying  them  down  to  the  north,  diffusing 
their  life-giving  influences  over  the  whole  surface.  That  this 
will  be  done  within  two  or  three  years  there  can  be  little  doubt, 
and  then  the  annual  yield  of  the  State,  instead  of  700,000  or 
800,000  tons,  will  be  something  incalculable.  Then  California 
will  show  its  true  wealth,  and  its  mining  will  be  scarcely  worth 
considering.     Out  of  its  population  of  750,000,  not  more  than 


LEAVING  FOR  SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA,  ETC.  37 

150,000  engage  in  agriculture.  There  are  more  people  working 
in  the  mines  of  Nevada  than  are  cultivating  the  ground  of  Cali- 
fornia, and  California  is  larger  than  all  New  England,  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania,  possessing  more  arable  land,  if 
reclaimed  and  irrigated,  than  all  of  them  combined. 

During  the  night,  we  passed  through  the  property  of  Messrs. 
Muller  and  Lux,  the  most  extensive  real  estate  owners  in  the 
valley.  Here  is  a  farm  seventy-three  miles  in  length  by  twenty 
in  width.  If  a  poor  man  owned  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
it,  it  would  be  worth  nothing  to  him,  as  part  of  it  is  swamp  land 
about  Lake  Tulare  that  he  could  not  drain,  and  part  of  it  a 
desert  sand,  that  he  could  not  irrigate.  But  to  these  capitalists 
it  is  valuable,  because  they  can  cause  the  two  unproductive  parts 
to  fructify  each  other  by  means  of  canals.  At  present,  while 
engaged  in  this  enterprise,  they  content  themselves  with  raising 
a  few  thousand  acres  of  alfalfa,  and  with  the  pasturage  of  their 
eighty-five  thousand  head  of  cattle  and  forty  thousand  sheep  ! 
One  single  straight  fence  on  their  property  is  seventy-three  miles 
long. 

Now,  this  has  the  appearance  of  "gobbling  up  land."  But 
when  the  small  number  of  inhabitants  and  the  vast  area  of  terri- 
tory in  the  State  are  considered,  and  especially  when  the  result 
of  this  speculation  is  inevitably  division  after  improvement  pre- 
paratory to  cultivation,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  gobbling  is  for 
the  general  good.  Consulting  the  early  history  of  New  York 
and  New  England,  we  find  that  the  territory  was  ceded  by  the 
Crown  in  patents  to  a  few  individuals.  Property  there  has  been 
divided  and  sub-divided,  until  one  hundred  acres  is  considered 
a  large  farm.     So  in  the  future  it  will  be  here. 

We  travelled  as  far  as  Lathrop,  eighty-three  miles  on  the 
Central  Pacific.     At  this  point  the   Southern  Pacific  branches 


4301±7 


,8  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

off  in  a  southerly  direction,  passing  Merced  fifty-seven  miles 
further  on  our  way.  This  is  the  railroad  terminus  of  the  best 
route  to  the  Yosemite.  Tourists  here  take  the  stage  for  the  two 
remaining  days  of  that  journey.  When  we  took  the  excursion 
five  years  ago,  part  of  the  travel  was  done  on  horseback  or  on 
foot,  and  I  imagine  that  the  present  more  comfortable  mode  of 
locomotion  has  not  added  to  enjoyment.  A  little  hardship  gives 
a  zest  to  pleasure.  If  any  one  entertains  the  intention  of  making 
this  trip,  he  can  readily  follow  us  to  Merced.  Here  he  may  part 
from  our  company  until  he  has  made  the  Yosemite  excursion. 
He  should  go  into  the  valley  after  visiting  the  big  trees  at 
Mariposa,  remain  there  a  week  to  get  some  small  idea  of  its  in- 
comparable grandeur  and  beauty,  returning  by  way  of  Coulters- 
ville.  In  this  way  the  Yosemite  and  Southern  Californian  jour- 
neys may  be  combined  to  the  greatest  advantage. 

At  five  o'clock  on  the  morning  after  the  departure  from  San 
Francisco,  we  left  the  train  at  Bakersfield,  a  small  town  three 
hundred  miles  distant  on  the  road.  It  was  a  pueblo  of  the  old 
Mexicans,  and  after  the  cession  of  the  country  to  the  United 
States,  was  squatted  upon  by  "pikes,"  a  set  of  poor  whites  from 
Pike  County,  Missouri,  and  a  few  negroes,  whom  they  brought 
with  the  intention  of  maintaining  the  domestic  institution.  Here 
was  a  rare  chance  for  a  miscegenous  production  of  humanity  by 
the  admixture  of  these  immigrants  with  the  "  greasers  "  and  the 
Indians.  The  result  of  the  experiment  was  that  the  new-born 
population  possessed  about  one-fourth  part  of  manhood.  I  do 
not  know  why  the  Pikes  should  have  selected  this  spot,  unless 
because  of  its  swampy  proclivities  to  fever  and  ague,  their  favor- 
ite disease.  Gradually  a  better  immigration  from  the  North 
ousted  them,  drained  the  marshes,  and  made  it  a  comparatively 
healthy  and   thriving  little  town.     There  is  still  enough  of  the 


LEAVING  FOR  SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA,  ETC.  39 

fever  left  in  August  and  September  to  satisfy  the  few  original 
settlers,  but  for  those  who  do  not  supplement  "  the  shakes " 
with  bad  whiskey,  there  is  little  danger  now  to  be  apprehended 
from  malaria.  "  It  never  was  much  anyway,"  said  one  of  the 
Pikes  ;  "  all  a  feller  had  to  do  was  to  take  sixty  grains  of  quinine 
when  the  fit  came  on,  and  then  take  forty  grains  of  calomel  to 
work  that  off ;  afterward  he  wanted  to  get  about  nine  ounces  of 
iron  into  his  blood  to  strengthen  himself  up,  and  then  he  was  all 

right.     D n  the  shakes  ;  I  ain't  afraid  of  'em  !  " 

We  drove  first  to  the  residence  of  Mr.  Chester,  the  editor  of 
the  Southern  Californian.  Mr.  Chester  resides  in  a  pretty 
country  house,  a  mile  from  the  village,  where  he  has  a  little  farm 
of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  all  in  a  high  state  of  culti- 
vation. In  his  small  garden  were  ten  acres  of  grapes.  He 
does  not  trouble  himself  to  pick  them,  but  sells  them  on  the 
vines  to  the  fruit  dealers  for  $1,000  per  annum.  Then,  there  is 
an  orchard  of  peaches,  another  of  cherries — trees  bearing  in 
three  years  after  planting  the  pits.  Did  he  expect  us  to  believe 
it?  Yet  it  was  not  more  wonderful  than  many  other  things. 
He  did  not  care  for  his  garden  or  his  orchards,  but  he  thought  no 
little  of  his  wheat,  turning  out  forty  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  two 
crops  at  that,  one  of  them  a  volunteer.  But  his  chief  delight 
was  his  alfalfa,  ten  tons  to  the  acre,  worth  $18  per  ton,  and  five 
annual  crops  ;  four  hundred  acres  were  in  alfalfa.  From  one 
lot  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  he  realized  last  year  $6,000. 
Beside  his  wheat  and  alfalfa,  he  has  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  in  barley,  yielding  sixty  bushels  to  the  acre.  These  are 
products  of  a  "  small  farm,"  and  I  imagine  the  profits  exceed 
those  of  the  Southern  Californian,  although  it  is  an  exceedingly 
well-conducted  journal,  edited  by  Mr.  Chester,  with  the  sole  view 
of  furthering  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  country. 


4o  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

We  drove  on  four  miles,  to  one  of  the  ranches  of  Messrs. 
Haggin  &  Carr.  These  gentlemen  own  one  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  acres  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley,  thirty  thousand  of 
which  they  have  already  irrigated  and  prepared  for  cultivation. 
On  this  property  they  have  expended  $650,000,  digging  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  canals.  It  is  divided  into  several 
ranches,  the  one  we  were  to  visit  containing  six  thousand 
acres.  Driving  two  miles  from  the  residence  of  Mr.  Chester, 
we  entered  the  domain  of  the  "  Bellevue  "  ranch.  Two  thou- 
sand acres  were  taken  in  last  year.  At  present,  there  are 
only  four  thousand  under  full  cultivation.  The  force  em- 
ployed consists  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  whites  and  ninety 
Chinamen,  who  receive  on  an  average  one  dollar  per  diem  and 
their  food.  Three  hundred  mules  and  horses  are  kept  at  work, 
eight  thousand  head  of  cattle  are  on  the  place,  a  flock  of  twenty- 
two  thousand  sheep  occupying  the  uncultivated  range.  We 
drove  through  alternate  lots  of  wheat,  barley,  and  alfalfa  for 
three  miles  before  reaching  the  house.  One  of  the  proprietors 
received  us  courteously,  and  entertained  us  at  luncheon.  Al- 
falfa, too,  was  his  pride  and  delight.  Every  living  creature  on 
the  ranch,  excepting  man,  feeds  on  alfalfa.  The  hogs,  as  well 
as  the  horses,  mules,  and  cattle,  live  on  it  when  green,  and  fatten 
on  it  when  dry.  Its  roots  strike  more  than  six  feet  into  the  soil, 
and  it  never  requires  replanting  unless  the  ground  is  broken  up. 
While  every  year  there  are  five  crops  of  alfalfa,  there  are  two 
only  of  wheat  and  barley  !  The  income  of  such  products  is,  of 
course,  very  great ;  but  as  yet  the  expenses  are  enormous,  for 
it  is  the  intention  to  reclaim  the  whole  one  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  acres,  and  then  the  property  will  be  for  sale  "  in  small 
lots  to  suit  purchasers."     In  the  meantime,  the  expenses  exceed 


LEAVING  FOR  SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA,  ETC.  41 

one  thousand  dollars  per  day;  so  that  the  balance  can  hardly 
be  in  favor  of  profit. 

Pleased  and  instructed  by  our  visit  to  the  Bellevue  ranch, 
we  returned  to  dine  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chester,  whose  cheerful 
entertainment  pleasantly  closed  the  day.  One  little  episode  pre- 
ceding dinner  diverted  us.  Hearing  two  or  three  reports  from  a 
gun  not  far  from  the  house,  our  hostess  quietly  assured  us  by 
saying  that  a  man  was  shooting  chickens.  "  When  we  want  tur- 
keys or  chickens  for  dinner,"  she  said,  <lwe  always  shoot  them, 
for  there  are  hundreds  of  them  all  over  the  place — they  live  on 
the  alfalfa."  We  returned  at  a  late  hour  to  the  "  Arlington 
Hotel,"  to  be  in  readiness  for  an  early  start  in  the  morning. 
Our  sleep  was  pleasant,  for  in  our  dreams  we  were  cradled  in  a 
ten  thousand  acre  lot  of  alfalfa. 


42 


THE  ROUND  TRIP. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  "  Corkscrew  "  and  "  Loop  " — The  Autocrat  of  the 
Desert — Below  the  Level  of  the  Sea — A  Crazy  Plan 
for  Irrigation — The  City  of  Yuma — The  Onward  March 
of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad — Future  Prospects 
of  Arizona — The  Indians  and  their  Chief. 

'  We  again  took  the  Southern  Pacific  train,  reaching  Caliente 
just  as  the  rising  sun  darted  his  rays  through  the  rugged  peaks 
of  the  Sierras,  among  which  we  were  about  to  climb  a  steep 
grade  of  one  hundred  and  sixteen  feet  to  the  mile.  Skilful 
engineers,  after  a  study  of  three  years  to  ascertain  the  most 
practicable  route,  at  length  made  this  selection.  It  is  here  that 
a  spur  of  the  Sierras,  straying  from  the  great  chain,  sweeps  over 
to  join  the  coast  range,  closing  upon  the  valleys  stretching  from 
the  Sacramento  to  the  South. 

On  the  plains  we  speak  of  the  line  of  a  railroad.  Here  it  is 
appropriately  termed  the  "  corkscrew,"  and  beyond  it  is  the 
"  loop."  The  "  corkscrew  "  section  winds  around  the  sides  of 
the  mountain  exactly  as  its  name  indicates,  affording  passing 
and  recurring  views  at  all  points  of  the  compass.  The  "  loop  " 
is  a  still  more  wonderful  exhibition  of  engineering  ingenuity. 
First,  the  road  runs  through  a  tunnel,  then  bridges  an  abyss,  and 


THE  "  CORKSCREW"  AND  "LOOP,"  ETC.  43 

finally  crosses  over  itself,  seemingly  tying  a  bow-knot  with  its 
iron  straps.  By  these  skilful  devices,  it  is  brought  to  an  eleva- 
tion of  three  thousand  five  hundred  and  forty-nine  feet  above  the 
plains.  This  is  the  Tehachape  Pass,  by  which  Fremont  first 
crossed  the  mountain  ridge  between  northern  and  southern 
California. 

The  slow  progression  added  to  our  enjoyment.  On  reach- 
ing the  summit,  the  engine  was  allowed  to  take  its  ease,  as 
pushed  by  the  train  without  effort,  it  rapidly  slid  down  the 
southern  incline.  This  pass,  with  the  desert  beyond,  forms 
the  barrier  between  the  grain-producing  plains  of  the  north,  and 
the  fruit-bearing  valleys  of  the  south, — for  such  is  the  general, 
although  not  universal  distinction  to  be  made. 

We  were  now  on  a  desert  utterly  barren,  a  sea  of  sand  with- 
out sufficient  nourishment  for  a  predatory  grasshopper.  One 
hundred  miles  of  road  is  laid  over  it.  The  desert  has  a  capital. 
States,  territories  and  countries  sometimes  quarrel  about  their 
capitals,  but  there  was  no  opposition  in  the  desert  district  to 
Mojave.  It  has  its  railroad  station,  its  county  court,  its  church, 
its  hotel,  its  business  quarter,  all  in  one  house,  the  landlord 
being  city  government,  judge,  parson  and  everybody.  The 
autocrat  said  that  Mojave  was  already  a  place  of  considerable 
business  as  a  mining  depot,  and  "  there  is  plenty  of  room  for  it 
to  increase,"  he  added,  as  he  waved  his  hand  around  the  circle 
of  the  sandy  horizon.  "Water  is  handy,"  he  said.  "Tain't 
more'n  twenty  miles  off,  and  provisions  are  getting  plenty  since 
we've  got  the  railroad.  Before  that  we  had  to  haul  them  a  hun- 
dred miles." 

We  breakfasted  at  Mojave,  expecting  under  the  circum- 
stances to  be  charged  an  exorbitant  price  for  our  meal,  which 
was  a  very  good  one,  and  were  agreeably  surprised  at  the  moder- 


44  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

ate  charge  of  seventy-five  cents.  That  hermit  of  the  desert  is 
actuated  by  generous  impulses,  or  he  is  sadly  ignorant  of  his 
opportunity. 

Still  journeying  over  the  long  reaches  of  sand,  ribbed  occa- 
sionally with  reefs  of  rocks,  we  came  to  the  tunnel  under  another 
cross  range  of  hills.  This  excavation  is  more  than  a  mile  in 
length,  and  is  shored  with  timber  like  a  snow-shed.  Boring 
the  mountains  for  the  last  time — for  we  have  passed  through 
many  tunnels  on  the  way — we  leave  them  and  the  Mojave  desert 
behind,  and  look  down  upon  the  vineyards  and  orange  groves  of 
the  southern  valleys,  where  peeping  through  its  vines  and  its 
orchards,  we  see  the  lovely  Pueblo  de  Nuestra  Sefiora  de  los 
Angeles.  We  will  surely  abide  there  a  while  on  our  return,  but 
now  let  us  finish  our  journey  "  to  the  front,"  as  the  Californians 
call  it,  to  Yuma,  in  Arizona. 

We  have  yet  before  us  two  hundred  and  forty-five  miles  on 
the  Southern  Pacific  road.  From  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
until  dark,  we  run  through  the  valleys  of  Los  Angeles  and  San 
Bernardino  until  the  Gorgonio  Pass  is  reached.  This  district 
thus  far  is  easily  watered  and  naturally  productive,  but  extensive 
irrigation  is  required.  That  desirable  improvement  has  been 
accomplished,  a  flume  bringing  water  from  a  distance  suf- 
ficient to  supply  ten  thousand  acres.  This  wooden  canal,  called 
a  V  from  its  shape,  also  brings  logs  and  railroad  ties,  shooting 
them  fourteen  miles  in  half  an  hour.  A  man  said  that  he  had 
made  the  trip  in  a  three  foot  boat,  but  he  "  felt  like  a  hog  in  a 
trough  riding  to  the  devil,  and  did  not  care  to  try  it  again." 

The  change  was  sudden  from  the  green  grass,  the  grain  and 
the  semi-tropical  fruit  trees  of  the  valley.  Our  pathway  was 
one  of  strong  contrasts.  Cultivation  and  desolation  succeed  each 
other  continually,  and  we  have  again  the  desert  before  us,  "  the 


THE  "CORKSCREW"  AND  "LOOP;'  ETC.  4S 

desert"  par  excellence,  if  excellence  means  excelling  all  abomina- 
tions. But  first  we  mount  its  arid  wastes  through  the  pictur- 
esque Gorgonio  Canon.  Moonlight  lent  its  weird  enchantment 
to  the  shadowy  outlines  of  distant  mountains  dimly  seen  beyond 
the  dark  rocks  through  which  the  road  was  cut.  The  cold  winds 
reached  us  from  their  snowy  summits.  "  Cold  is  it  ?  "  asked  the 
brakeman.  "Ye'll  be  begging  for  half  a  breath  of  it  before 
morning." 

We  realized  this  when  we  descended  into  what  might 
be  called  "  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  " — if  there  could 
be  a  shadow  there.  There  is  no  object  on  this  vast  area,  one 
thousand  miles  long,  and  from  one  to  two  hundred  miles  wide, 
capable  of  making  a  shadow.  In  the  deserts  of  Africa  there 
are  oases  with  their  shady  palms  and  wells  of  living  water; 
here  there  is  nothing  but  stunted  sage  brush  and  straggling 
spears  of  yellow  grass.  For  miles  not  even  these  are  to  be 
seen  ;  nothing,  absolutely  nothing,  but  an  everlasting  waste  of 
sand,  bounded  by  the  horizon  or  the  bases  of  distant  mountains, 
whose  blue  outlines  have  so  often  mocked  the  hopes  of  weary 
travellers  doomed  to  perish  for  want  of  the  water  in  their  sight. 

This  is  the  great  American  Sahara,  which,  although  mostly 
in  the  limits  of  California,  is  called  the  "  Colorado  Desert,"  and 
has  become  familiar  to  the  public  through  the  proposition  of  Dr. 
Wozencraft.  That  enthusiastic  gentleman  has  long  been  en- 
deavoring to  persuade  Congress  to  give  the  company  he  repre- 
sents a  right  to  turn  the  Colorado  River  into  the  desert  for  the 
purpose  of  irrigating  a  few  million  acres,  and  making  them 
profitable  as  farming  lands.  I  have  not  heard  a  single  individ- 
ual who  has  crossed  this  plain  characterize  this  scheme  as  any- 
thing but  insane,  and  now  that  we  have  seen  it,  I  am  fully  of 
that  opinion. 


46  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

The  valley  was  unmistakably  at  one  time  a  bay  of  the  sea, 
and  if  the  experiment  would  not  result  in  the  destruction  of  the 
railroad,  it  could  not  be  put  to  a  better  use  than  to  make  it  revert 
to  the  original  owner.  This  could  be  accomplished  easily  by 
cutting  a  canal  only  a  few  miles  from  the  coast  and  letting  in 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  which  is  higher  than  the  plain.  Our  track 
actually  descended  before  reaching  Yuma,  to  a  depth  of  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty-three  feet  below  the  sea  level,  and  we  have  some 
marine  shells  picked  up  from  the  sand. 

There  are  stories  told  of  a  wreck  that  was  found  here  not 
long  ago,  to  prove  that  this  was  once  a  navigable  sea.  But  such 
apocryphal  legends  are  needless.  In  this  case  fact  can  sustain 
itself  without  the  aid  of  fancy.  The  indications  furnished  by 
the  shells  and  other  outward  appearances  are  made  still  more 
conclusive  by  the  extraordinary  depression  of  the  ground,  and 
by  the  fact  that  the  water  brought  up  from  the  low  bottoms  is  salt. 

On  the  higher  grade  water  has  not  yet  been  reached.  At 
one  station  where  we  were  delayed,  men  were  boring  an  artesian 
well.  They  had  perforated  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  feet  of 
sand,  as  dry  at  that  depth  as  at  the  surface. 

One  glance  at  Dr.  Wozencraft's  scheme  should  be  sufficient 
to  condemn  it.  The  Colorado  River,  a  stream  whose  importance 
has  been  greatly  exaggerated,  is  not  an  eighth  of  a  mile  wide 
where  it  is  crossed  at  Yuma,  and  is  so  shallow  that  it  is  only 
navigable  for  stern-wheel  boats  drawing  less  than  two  feet.  Still, 
it  is  too  valuable  for  purposes  of  navigation  to  be  taken  out  of 
its  bed.  But  supposing  it  turned  on  to  this  desert,  it  would  be 
lost  in  almost  the  first  acre  of  sand.  The  Mississippi  would  not 
wander  far  before  it  would  be  literally  sucked  in,  as  Congress 
would  be  metaphorically,  if  it  should  give  its  sanction  to  such  an 
absurdity. 


THE  "CORKSCREW"  AND  "LOOP,"  ETC.  47 

The  Southern  Pacific  Railroad,  from  its  point  of  leaving  from 
the  Central  Pacific,  has  already  been  extended  six  hundred  and 
thirty-two  miles,  to  Yuma.  When  it  is  considered  that  about 
one-fourth  of  the  distance  is  accomplished  over  an  absolutely  ir- 
reclaimable desert,  where  local  traffic  is  reversed — the  trains  car- 
rying tanks  of  water  for  distribution  at  the  stations — the  question 
naturally  arises,  on  what  sources  does  the  road  depend  for  its 
profits  ?  An  enterprise  so  vast,  undertaken  by  men  of  such 
known  ability,  must  have  had  its  foundation  in  sound  calcula- 
tion. 

We  must  remember  that  they  have  first  their  individual  in- 
terests at  stake.  These  are  located  in  California  and  centred 
in  San  Francisco  ;  consequently,  whatever  is  for  the  benefit  of 
the  State  and  its  capital  redounds  to  their  own  profit.  It  is 
clearly  not  for  their  advantage  that  any  road  from  the  East 
should  find  its  terminus  at  San  Diego,  the  extreme  south  of  the 
State.  Perhaps  they  would  not  care  to  have  any  other  commu- 
nication with  the  Atlantic  coast  than  that  afforded  by  their  own 
profitable  Central  Pacific,  but  as  they  are  aware  that  a  parallel 
road  in  a  more  southern  latitude  is  inevitable,  they  have  deter- 
mined to  control  its  terminus  and  its  traffic — in  short,  to  bring 
the  trade  of  the  South  to  San  Francisco,  and  to  manage  it  in 
such  a  way  that  the  new  road  shall  be  an  advantage  rather  than 
a  detriment  to  the  old  one. 

To  accomplish  this  result  it  pays  to  traverse  an  unproductive 
desert.  But  this  is  not  all.  It  is  safe  to  predict  the  success  of 
the  Southern  Pacific  even  if  it  should  not  reach  any  connection 
with  the  East.  This  is  assured  by  the  increasing  importance  of 
Arizona  as  a  mining  region.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this  railroad 
company  to  secure  the  whole  trade  of  Arizona  for  San  Fran- 
cisco before  any  eastern  communication  is  opened.     When  that 


48  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

takes  place  it  will  join  their  road,  and  it  will  be  too  late  to  turn 
the  stream  of  traffic  from  its  western  course. 

These  considerations,  with  others  of  minor  importance,  fur- 
nish a  sufficient  answer  to  the  question  so  frequently  proposed  : 
"  How  can  men  be  such  fools  as  to  build  a  railroad  across  the 
desert  ?  "  I  am  sure  that  we  never  should  have  thought  it  worth 
our  while  to  visit  Yuma  by  crossing  it  on  mule-back,  or  by  the 
still  slower  route  of  steamers  around  Cape  St.  Lucas,  up  the  Gulf 
of  California  and  the  Colorado  River,  the  usual  way  of  getting 
here  in  twenty  days'  time,  until  this  railroad  was  built.  Now  the 
same  end  is  accomplished,  if  no  stops  are  made,  in  thirty-six 
hours.  What  such  rapid  transit  will  do  for  Arizona,  what 
impetus  it  will  give  to  trade,  what  influx  of  population,  what 
general  prosperity  to  the  territory,  are  all  certainties  of  the  im- 
mediate future. 

We  reached  the  terminus  of  the  line  at  seven  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  there  being  a  mile  of  road  yet  to  be  constructed  to  the 
river  bank.  On  this  two  or  three  hundred  Chinamen  were  busily 
at  work,  and  it  was  to  be  finished  the  next  day  to  the  river.  I 
shall  have  something  more  to  say  about  Chinamen  by  and  by, 
but  will  only  observe  just  now  that  railroads  are  very  strong  pro- 
Chinese  arguments.  It  would  have  been  impossible  to  build  this 
road  without  their  labor. 

The  Colorado  having  since  been  spanned  by  a  bridge,  the 
road  is  now  being  extended  along  the  banks  of  the  Gila.  Half 
way  between  Yuma  and  the  Maricopa  Wells,  in  the  heart  of  a 
great  desert,  two  thousand  men  are  busy  laying  rails  at  the  rate 
of  two  miles  per  day,  pressing  on  we  know  not  where.  The 
present  objective  point  is  Maricopa  Wells,  160  miles  east  of 
Fort  Yuma,  and  408  miles  from  Los  Angeles.  As  Maricopa 
Wells  is  a  mere  watering  spot  in  the  great  desert  of  Arizona,  we 


THE  "CORKSCREW"  AND  "LOOP,"  ETC.  49 

assume  that  the  work  is  to  be  pushed  further  eastward,  at  first 
to  Tucson,  and  then,  perhaps,  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  thus 
forming  another  transcontinental  railroad. 

Two  opposition  wagons  were  ready  to  transport  the  pas- 
sengers for  the  remaining  mile.  "  Git  in  here  !  "  yelled  our 
driver  ;  "  that  darned  cuss  wants  to  skin  you.  He  charges  five 
dollars  and  I'll  take  you  for  three,  if  I  do  lose  money  by  it."  So 
we  went  with  this  self-sacrificing  man  and  contributed  to  his 
poverty. 

Fort  Yuma  has  a  garrison  of  fifty  or  sixty  soldiers,  undei 
command  of  Colonel  Dunn,  to  whom,  as  well  as  to  Major 
Ernest,  we  were  indebted  for  kind  attentions.  It  is  situated  on 
the  California  side  of  the  Colorado,  which  is  crossed  by  ferry  to 
the  city  of  Yuma. 

The  city  of  Yuma — no  pen  can  portray  it  ;  no  photography 
can  reproduce  it ;  no  painting  can  by  coloring  represent  the 
sandy  desert  of  its  wide  streets,  the  irregular  blocks  and 
scattered  houses,  the  lazy  Mexicans  lolling  about  the  grog- 
shops, and  gazing  wistfully  at  their  contents  ;  the  glare  of  the 
burning  sun  :  the  total  absence  of  trees,  shrubs,  grass,  or  any 
green  thing  to  vary  the  monotony  of  sand  and  dust.  This  is 
Yuma,  the  thriving  city,  with  its  wealthy  merchants,  its  newspa- 
per, its  hotels,  its  court  house,  and  probably  its  churches — al- 
though we  did  not  happen  to  see  or  hear  of  them.  This 
is  Yuma,  with  its  two  thousand  inhabitants,  the  frontier  settle- 
ment on  the  v/est  of  Arizona,  situated  at  the  confluence  of  the 
Gila  and  the  Colorado,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  sea 
by  the  course  of  the  latter  river,  and  one  hundred  miles  in  a  di- 
rect line.  By  and  by,  when  it  increases  in  wealth  and  import- 
ance, as  its  opportunities  indicate  that  it  will,  a  more  refined 
taste  will  change  its  present  forbidding  aspect.     A  few  thousand 


50  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

dollars  will  pay  for  abundant  irrigation,  avenues  of  trees  will  su- 
persede the  shadeless  streets,  elegant  houses  rise  upon  the  ruins 
of  wretched  abobes,  and  churches  and  schools  will  take  the 
place  of  saloons  and  gambling  dens.  The  poor  Indians  and  the 
Mexican  "greasers"  will  be  drowned  out  by  the  coming  wave  of 
civilization,  and  in  ten  years  from  this  time,  whoever  may  read 
this  description  will  say  that  it  could  not  have  been  true  of  beauti- 
ful Yuma. 

The  earliest  occupation  by  the  Spaniards  of  what  is  now 
Arizona,  was  in  1769.  and  the  first  American  settlement  was 
made  in  1853.  Until  the  recent  discovery  of  silver  no  progress 
was  made,  and  it  was  valued  only  as  a  military  post.  The 
whole  territory  now  contains  about  thirty-five  thousand  whites, 
beside  the  Mexican  and  Indian  population,  amounting  in  round 
numbers  to  fifteen  thousand  more.  The  mining  excitement  is 
drawing  reinforcements  so  rapidly  that  estimates  are  good  only 
for  to-day.  Fabulous  stories  are  told  of  the  new  bonanzas. 
There  is  a  perfect  mining  furor  among  these  people,  who  talk 
of  the  Comstock  lodes  of  Nevada  as  "  played-out  pockets,"  and 
hold  with  the  utmost  sincerity  to  the  faith  that  Arizona  will  be 
the  greatest  silver-producing  district  of  the  world.  There  is 
abundant  proof  that  this  mineral  was  known  to  exist  here  one 
hundred  years  ago,  when  mines  were  worked  by  Spaniards.  It 
is  also  shown  by  exhumations  from  the  mounds  that  the  Aztecs, 
and  probably  races  anterior  to  them,  possessed  the  same  knowl- 
edge and  used  it  for  their  advantage.  However  great  the  amount 
of  silver  they  may  have  produced  in  those  early  days,  it  fades 
into  insignificance  compared  with  what  may  be  turned  out  by 
modern  science  and  machinery. 

Do  not  be  induced  by  any  thing  I  have  said  to  abandon  a 
profession  or  trade  that  affords  a  decent  subsistence  and  emi- 


THE  "CORKSCREW"  AND  "LOOP,"  ETC.  ?x 

grate  to  Arizona  to  hunt  for  silver.  Mining  is  a  lottery  in  which 
more  blanks  are  drawn  than  prizes.  There  are  always  plenty 
of  fools,  however,  who  will  take  tickets  in  it.  Successful  or  not, 
they  must  all  be  fed.  So  the  safest  and  best  thing  you  can  do, 
if,  for  health  or  a  living,  you  wish  to  pass  your  days  in  the 
purest  atmosphere  of  the  continent,  is  to  take  up  farming  land 
in  Arizona.  This  can  be  found  in  abundance  in  many  parts  of 
the  territory,  although  every  thing  around  Yuma  is  a  desert. 
Thus  you  may  have  the  benefit  of  mining  without  its  attendant 
risk.  Still  there  is  an  excitement  in  "  prospecting "  that  at- 
tracts many  good  and  useful  citizens  to  the  territory.  They  like 
the  pursuit,  whether  they  succeed  or  not,  and  they  will  either 
become  rich  and  acquire  interests  in  real  estate,  or  they  will  lose 
all  they  have,  and  will  not  be  able  to  get  away.  So  both  classes 
will  remain,  and,  their  families  increasing,  Arizona  will  doubtless 
soon  be  admitted  as  a  State  to  the  Union,  and  the  Indians  will 
disappear,  as  their  race  has  always  passed  away  before  advanc- 
ing civilization. 

The  principal  tribes,  most  of  whom  are  on  reservations,  are 
the  Mojaves,  the  Maricopas,  the  Apaches,  the  Navajos  and  the 
Yumas.  Of  the  last  there  were  about  fifteen  hundred  loitering 
around  the  town.  They  are  a  quiet,  inoffensive  set  of  beings 
now,  though  in  times  past  warlike  and  ferocious.  The  men  are 
tall  and  finely  formed,  and  the  women,  when  not  disfigured  by 
tattooing,  are  not  remarkably  repulsive.  They  are  all  fond  of 
dress,  that  is,  as  far  as  they  dress.  In  distinction  from  the 
habits  of  civilized  life  the  men  are  much  more  vain  of  their  per- 
sonal appearance  than  the  women.  They  like  to  wear  gaudy 
colored  jackets  and  vests.  Both  sexes  content  themselves  with 
the  avoidance  of  absolute  indecency,  and  all  are  literally  sans 
culottes.     The  men  wear  long  strips  of  bright  calico  attached  to 


s 2  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

their  belts,  trailing  behind  them  to  the  ground  as  they  march 
along,  with  the  feeling  of  a  Broadway  beau  fresh  from  the  hands 
of  his  tailor. 

Visiting  their  camp,  two  miles  from  town,  we  called  upon 
Pasqual,  the  chief  of  the  tribe,  a  man  apparently  eighty  years 
old.  He  sat  upon  his  haunches,  looking  stolidly  on  as  one 
of  his  wives  was  bruising  mesquit  beans  in  a  rude  mortar. 
The  Yumas  live  chiefly  on  this  bean,  a  sort  of  locust  growing 
wild  and  abundant  in  the  river  bottoms.  They  also  plant  corn, 
squashes  and  melons,  which  they  dry  and  preserve  for  winter 
use.  These  articles  constitute  their  diet,  excepting  an  occa- 
sional rabbit  or  fish.  They  do  not  care  to  go  upon  a  reservation, 
but  are  quite  satisfied  with  their  present  mode  of  life. 

When  Major  Ernest  came  forward  and  addressed  the  chief, 
the  old  man  arose  from  his  humiliating  posture  and  assumed  at 
once  his  natural  dignity  of  mien.  He  shook  hands  in  the  most 
condescending  manner,  and  uttered  a  few  unintelligible  words  of 
welcome.  "  He  has  been  a  great  rascal,"  said  the  Major,  to 
his  face,  "  a  brave  man,  too,  for  he  gave  us  lots  of  fighting 
before  he  came  in  and  surrendered.  Now  he  is  quiet  as  a  kit- 
ten. We  can  rely  upon  his  word  that  he  will  give  us  no  more 
trouble."  The  bright  eyes  of  the  old  chief  gleamed  with  satis- 
faction, for  he  seemed  to  know  that  something  flattering  was 
said  about  him.  He  grunted  approval  at  the  end  of  the  Major's 
little  speech,  and  shaking  us  again  cordially  by  the  hand, 
intimated  that  the  audience  was  at  an  end,  and  we  left  him 
standing  barelegged  in  front  of  his  hut  with  an  air  of  self- 
possession  equal  to  that  of  a  field-marshal  or  an  emperor 


RIVAL   TOWNS,  ETC. 


53 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Rival  towns  in  the  San  Bernardino  Valley — Newspaper 
Enterprise — Paradise  of  Orange  Trees — Intellec- 
tuality and  Laziness — Mormon  and  Roman  Catholic 
Civilizations — The  Mission  of  San  Gabriel  and  its 
Good  Wine. 

Beauty  and  deformity  are  alike  intensified  by  contrast.  The 
green  carpets  of  the  Swiss  valleys  owe  their  coloring  to  the 
rugged  crags  and  eternal  snows  of  the  Alps  above  them,  and 
those  high  surroundings  seem  more  desolate  when  we  turn  from 
the  verdant  fields  to  look  upon  them  than  if  they  stood  alone  in 
the  scope  of  our  vision.  Perhaps  we  have  thus  exaggerated  the 
desolation  of  Yuma  and  the  Colorado  desert,  and  now  on 
returning  to  the  garden  of  Southern  California,  it  may  have 
acquired  for  our  eyes  new  features  of  loveliness.  Still,  we  have 
the  best  intentions  to  be  honest  to  Nature  in  describing  her  lights 
and  shadows. 

On  our  return  from  Arizona  we  alight  at  a  small  railway 
station  called  Colton.  This  city  has  five  houses,  a  stable, 
a  church  and  a  printing  office.  Civilization  has  triumphed 
lately  over  the  old  custom  of  forming  settlements  in  this  part  of 
the  country.     The  prime  necessity  was  once  the  grog  shop — 


54  THE  ROUND  TRIF. 

now  it  is  the  press.  'The  very  first  thing  to  be  done  in  these 
days  is  to  establish  a  local  newspaper.  Once  it  marched  in  to 
supply  the  demands  of  the  people  ;  now  the  people  are  expected 
to  come  at  the  call  of  the  newspaper.  To  discover  the  age  of 
a  town  we  need  but  to  glance  at  the  head  of  the  newspaper 
columns.  Thus  the  Colton  Semi-Tropic,  published  every  Satur- 
day by  Scipio  Craig — for  that  is  the  name  of  the  editor — leads 
us  to  infer  from  its  "Vol.  i,  No.  31,"  that  the  town  is  thirty- 
one  weeks  of  age.  This  may  not  be  exact  to  a  day,  but  appear- 
ances indicate  that  it  is  a  fair  ground  for  estimate.  We  called 
upon  Mr.  Craig.  Having  written  his  leader  and  made  up  his 
paper  and  his  form  with  the  assistance  of  a  little  boy,  he 
was  busy  working  off  his  issue  of  May  26  with  a  hand 
press.  It  is  intensely  local,  for  the  map  of  San  Bernardino 
county,  of  which  Colton  is  the  capital,  is  stereotyped  over  a 
large  space.  There  is  a  corner  for  politics — and  the  editor  is 
politic  himself,  for  he  wants  settlers,  be  they  Democrats  or 
Republicans ;  there  is  also  a  summary  of  telegraphic  news. 
But  the  animus,  the  strength,  the  true  meaning  of  the  Semi-Tropic 
is,  "  Come  hither,  ye  immigrants !  This  is  the  most  favored 
spot  in  creation." 

It  is  on  the  line  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad,  which 
might,  if  it  had  been  so  disposed,  have  run  through  the  old  town 
of  San  Bernardino,  where  there  are  four  thousand  inhabitants, 
or  through  the  newer  settlement  of  Riverside,  of  greater  promise. 
But  it  did  neither.  Railroads  have  selfish  ways.  They  study 
their  own  interests  as  individual  men  study  theirs.  Railroads 
own  land  upon  their  borders,  and  care  more  for  them  than  for 
the  lands  of  others. 

San  Bernardino  is  four  miles  north  and  Riverside  is  eight 
miles  south  of  Colton.     I  asked  one  of  the  oldest  inhabitants 


RIVAL  TOWNS,  ETC.  55 

about  these  towns.  He  shook  his  head ;  he  "  didn't  like  to  say 
any  thing  agin  his  neighbors,  but  they  have  fever  and  ague 
considerable  in  San  Bernardino,  and  the  water  ain't  fit  to  drink 
at  Riverside.  Hows'ever,  as  I  said,  I  don't  like  to  say  any 
thing  agin  'em,  some  folks  like  them  kind  o'  things — I  don't ; 
that's  all." 

As  this  impartial  critic  left  us  to  form  our  own  opinions  we 
set  out  to  see  for  ourselves,  on  some  capital  ponies,  which  car- 
ried us  forty  miles  over  the  ground  that  day  with  ease.  There 
is  no  difficulty  in  procuring  good  horses  at  reasonable  prices  in 
all  the  towns  of  Southern  California.  You  may  buy  them  for 
twenty-five  dollars,  or  you  may  hire  them  for  a  few  shillings. 

We  first  took  a  survey  of  Riverside.  Crossing  the  river 
Santa  Ana  by  a  ford,  we  followed  its  banks  under  the  guidance 
of  Mr.  Evans,  the  president  of  a  land  company  formed  for  the 
purpose  of  colonizing  the  district.  Eight  miles  above  the  town, 
two  canals  are  opened  from  the  river  sufficient  to  irrigate  twenty- 
five  thousand  acres  of  the  property.  Operations  were  begun 
only  six  years  ago.  Within  that  time — a  newspaper,  of  course, 
being  the  precursor — a  town  of  little  gardens  has  been  built  in 
the  centre  of  the  rancho.  Four  hundred  thousand  dollars  have 
been  expended  on  canals  and  roads.  An  avenue  one  hundred 
and  thirty  feet  wide  and  eleven  miles  long,  with  triple  rows  of 
eucalyptus  and  magnolia  trees,  has  been  laid  out,  and  the  land 
on  each  side,  with  abundant  water  privileges,  cut  up  into  forty- 
acre  farms.     Ten  thousand  acres  have  already  been  sold. 

"I  shall  make  it  a  paradise!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Evans,  with 
justifiable  enthusiam. 

Truly  Adam  and  Eve  never  walked  under  such  an  avenue  as 
this  will  be,  and  they  never  saw  such  orange  groves  as  grow 
on  its  borders,  or  apples  would  not  have  tempted  them.     Think 


£ 6  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

of  ten  thousand  acres  planted  almost  exclusively  with  orange 
trees,  and  the  remaining  fifteen  thousand  to  be  cultivated  in 
the  same  way.  Many  of  the  Riverside  colonists  are  "  eddi- 
cated,  intellectooal  cusses,"  as  an  envious  San  Bernardino 
farmer  termed  them.  Many  of  them  are  invalids,  who  have 
a  little  property,  so  that  they  are  not  obliged  to  work  with  their 
own  hands  ;  most  of  them  are  a  combination  of  ill-health,  in- 
tellectuality, and  comfortable  circumstances.  Orange  culture 
is  eminently  adapted  to  their  condition  and  circumstances. 
They  can  sit  on  the  verandas  of  their  pretty  cottages — the 
refined  essences  of  abstract  existences — inhaling  the  pure  air  of 
the  equal  climate,  reading  novels  or  abstruse  works  of  philosophy, 
according  to  their  mental  activity,  from  day  to  day,  and  waiting 
from  year  to  year  for  their  oranges  to  grow.  Extremes  meet. 
This  is  the  sort  of  farming  agreeable  alike  to  literati  and 
lazzaroni. 

After  a  long  ride  about  Riverside  and  its  environs,  we  re- 
turned to  lunch  at  Colton,  and  in  the  afternoon  rode  over  to 
San  Bernardino. 

There  is  something  romantic  about  the  settlement  of  this 
town — one  of  the  earliest  occupied  by  Americans  in  the  State. 
When  the  Mormons  were  driven  out  of  Illinois,  their  astute 
leader  sent  a  colony  to  settle  in  California,  preparatory  to  a 
general  exodus  of  his  people.  Their  reports  of  the  richness  of 
the  soil  led  him  wisely  to  infer  that  the  country  was  altogether 
too  good  for  his  purpose,  as  the  "  Gentiles  "  would  soon  drive 
the  "Saints"  away  again.  He  accordingly  selected  the  alkaline 
deserts  of  Utah,  little  dreaming,  prophet  though  he  was,  that 
the  railroad  would  soon  be  on  his  track,  and  that  the  roses 
grown  by  his  indomitable  perseverance  on  that  forbidden  soil 
would  be  plucked  by  Gentile  hands.     Most  of  the   California 


RIVAL  TOWNS,  ETC.  Sy 

colony  were  recalled,  and  obedient  to  the  mandate  of  their 
leader,  the  reluctant  band  marched  across  the  Sierras  to  the 
land  of  promise — such  promise  as  it  gave  when  compared  to 
the  beauty  and  abundance  they  were  forced  to  abandon  !  The 
Israelites  escaped  from  Egyptian  bondage  to  establish  them- 
selves in  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  These  colonists, 
after  long  persecutions,  having  found  a  refuge  in  this  paradise 
of  the  earth,  voluntarily  subjected  themselves  to  new  toil  and 
privation  in  the  barren  wastes  of  Deseret.  They  left  the  garden 
that  nature  had  planted  for  them  to  conquer  from  nature  a  bare 
subsistence.  Now  that  men  speak  all  manner  of  evil  concern- 
ing the  Mormons,  let  this  instance  of  self-devotion  and  religious 
faith,  fanatical  but  sincere,  be  placed  to  their  credit,  as  it  will 
assuredly  be  by  the  Great  Judge  of  all  motives  and  actions. 

A  few  of  the  Latter-day  Saints  were  permitted  to  remain  in 
California.  Two  of  them,  Amasa  Lyman  and  Charles  C.  Rich, 
came  here  before  1850,  and  acquired  the  title  of  San  Bernardino, 
with  eight  square  leagues  of  land  and  fifteen  thousand  head  of 
cattle.  Three  hundred  persons  formed  a  settlement,  and  laid 
out  the  streets  from  north  to  south  and  from  east  to  west,  one 
hundred  and  thirty-two  feet  wide ;  brought  in  irrigated  canals, 
planted  avenues  of  trees,  divided  the  town  into  garden  lots,  and 
established  every  thing  on  the  scale  of  villages  now  seen  in  Utah, 
but  with  far  greater  beauty,  for  climate  and  soil  beneficently 
aided,  instead  of  opposing,  their  efforts.  The  town  is  now  thirty 
years  old — a  very  ancient  one  for  California — and  by  far  the 
prettiest  place  we  had  yet  seen.  The  trees  have  grown  to  a 
maturity  that  sixty  years  would  not  have  given  in  the  East. 
Each  street  is  a  boulevard  ;  and  every  house,  if  we  except  the 
few  assigned  to  business  purposes,  is  covered  with  creepers  and 
nestled  in  full-grown  orchards  and  vineyards. 


58  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

We  talked  with  two  of  the  old  Mormon  settlers.  They  said 
that,  with  all  the  beauty  around  them,  and  all  the  comfort  and 
luxury  afforded  by  the  teeming  abundance  of  the  soil,  some  of 
their  number,  sorrowing  for  their  kindred  and  their  religious 
associations,  like  those  who  wept  by  the  rivers  of  Babylon,  had 
gone  over  the  mountains  to  Utah  ;  and  now,  in  a  population  of 
four  thousand,  not  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  saints 
were  left.  Their  fellow  townsmen  speak  of  them  as  quiet,  inof- 
fensive people,  who  have  no  disposition  to  make  themselves 
obnoxious  by  practices  distatesful  to  the  sentiments  of  the  com- 
munity. They  belong  to  the  "  Josephite"  branch  of  the  church, 
in  opposition  to  the  Brighamites. 

The  old  Spaniards  were  accustomed  to  christen  their  discov- 
eries and  settlements  with  the  names  of  saints  upon  whose  pro- 
tection they  relied.  When  they  reached  this  vale  of  verdant 
fields  and  rosy  bowers  in  the  spring  of  the  year  1769,  they 
rightly  judged  that  no  saint  was  entitled  to  the  honor  of  being 
its  defender,  and  so,  with  a  combination  of  piety  and  gallantry, 
when  they  had  founded  their  town,  they  christened  it  and  its 
valley  "  Our  Lady  of  the  Angels."  If  in  the  wild  luxuriance  of 
nature,  with  these  grand  mountains  in  the  background  and  the 
blue  Pacific  rippling  on  its  shores,  the  picture  seemed  to  them  so 
beautiful,  how  much  more  worthy  of  its  name  would  they  have 
thought  it,  could  they  have  seen  its  gardens  adorned  by  cultiva- 
tion and  its  surrounding  plains  made  pastures  for  herds  and 
flocks  !  Heretical  as  the  present  occupants  may  be,  they  have 
only  modified  its  title  for  an  economy  of  words.  For  them  the 
valley  and  the  town  are  still  Los  Angeles — "  The  Angels." 

We  are  all  more  familiar  with  the  conquests  of  Peru  and  of 
Mexico  than  with  the  progress  made  by  the  invaders  to  the 
North,  resulting  in  the  subjugation  of  the  natives  of  California, 


RIVAL  TOWNS,  ETC.  59 

because  it  was  slow  and  gradual,  lacking  that  dashing  effrontery 
which  Pizarro  and  Cortez  displayed  in  conquering  new  worlds  at 
a  blow.  By  other  means  Spain  gained  her  foothold  on  the  more 
northern  coast  of  America.  For  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
after  the  conquest  she  vainly  attempted  to  extend  her  dominions 
in  this  direction  by  military  force,  and  then  turned  over  the  en- 
terprise to  religious  zeal,  commissioning  the  Franciscan  Fathers 
to  obtain  possession  of  the  peninsula  of  Lower  California.  They 
accomplished  this  successfully,  and  seventy-nine  years  afterward 
pushed  on  to  the  region  now  known  as  Southern  California, 
where  the  line  is  drawn  between  Mexico  and  the  United  States. 

In  1769,  two  small  vessels,  fitted  out  by  the  missionary 
friars,  reached  San  Diego,  and  simultaneously  there  came  by 
land  a  small  detachment  of  men,  driving  before  them  two  hun- 
dred head  of  cattle,  and  as  many  horses,  sheep,  and  hogs,  to 
stock  the  country  they  intended  to  occupy. 

These  Catholic  priests  were  practical  missionaries.  Their 
doctrine  was,  that  religion  meant  civilization  and  its  attendant 
benefits,  as  well  as  the  mere  adoption  of  certain  articles  of  faith. 
Until  they  were  superseded  by  military  robbers,  their  influence 
over  the  Indians  was,  on  the  whole,  for  their  temporal  good, 
though  they  doubtless  attached  more  importance  to  the  salvation 
of  their  souls.  They  subdued  them  by  a  policy  for  the  most 
part  of  kindness,  while  they  conquered  new  territories  for  Spain 
without  shedding  blood.  Their  methods  of  conversion  were 
not  in  all  respects  justifiable.  Their  appeals  were  not  always 
founded  on  reason  ;  sometimes  the  argumentum  ad  hominem  was 
literally  a  lasso  thrown  over  the  head  of  the  victim,  by  which  he 
was  captured  and  brought  into  the  mission  grounds  to  be 
baptized. 

The  Church  has  always  been  accused  of  reducing  men  to 


60  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

slavery  of  the  mind.  Here  the  tyranny  was  chiefly  exercised 
over  the  body,  for  the  Indians  had  not  much  mental  nature  to 
overcome.  The  dazzling  ceremonial  of  worship,  the  lighted 
tapers  and  fragrant  incense,  were  enough  to  subdue  what  little 
intellect  they  possessed  ;  their  bone  and  muscle  were  made 
serviceable  in  building  monasteries,  cultivating  vineyards  and 
herding  cattle.  A  quasi  religion  and  a  quasi  civilization  thus 
gained  foothold  together  in  California.  They  were  the  shadows 
of  coming  events  now  realized  and  enjoyed  by  us. 

Trees  of  bigotry  were  planted  on  the  Atlantic  and  on  the 
Pacific  shores.  They  were  of  different  stocks,  but  they  have 
both  been  grafted  with  scions  that  have  borne  a  better  fruit.  As 
New  England  celebrates  her  anniversary  of  December  2 2d  in 
memory  of  1620,  so  California  should  make  a  gala  day  of  the 
1st  of  May  in  gratitude  to  her  pilgrim  fathers  of  1769.  They 
established  their  first  mission  where  they  landed  in  San  Diego, 
there  beginning  their  efforts  for  the  conversion  of  their  heathen 
neighbors  to  a  civilization  which,  with  these,  as  with  all  other 
savages,  must  result  in  extermination,  not  attributable  to  relig- 
ions, Catholic,  or  Protestant,  but  to  the  advent  and  colonization 
of  a  superior  race. 

From  San  Diego  they  advanced  to  the  north  and  to  the  interi- 
or, driving  their  increasing  herds  before  them,  corralling  Indians, 
building  monasteries  and  possessing  themselves  of  the  land.  Of 
the  twenty-one  mission  churches  founded  by  them,  most  remain 
in  some  state  of  preservation — that  at  Santa  Barbara  being  nearly 
perfect.  Some  of  them  are  occupied  by  a  few  Franciscan  brothers, 
who  flit  about  the  spacious  cloisters  like  ghostly  images  of  their 
predecessors,  the  great  territories  surrounding  them  having  long 
since  been  secularized. 

The  fathers  enjoyed  their  highest  prosperity  in  the  early  part 


RIVAL  TOWNS,  ETC.  61 

of  this  century.  It  is  said  that  the  Mission  of  San  Miguel  in 
182 1  owned  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  head  of  cattle,  fifty 
thousand  sheep,  and  thousands  of  horses  and  mules,  and  the  pros- 
perity of  this  mission  corresponded  with  the  rest.  So  much 
for  their  stock  ;  as  for  the  land,  they  owned  it  all.  Mexican  in- 
dependence, declared  the  year  afterward,  was  a  severe  blow  to 
this  ecclesiastical  hierarchy.  Military  adventurers  despoiled  them 
of  their  wealth,  gradually  reducing  their  property  and  influence, 
until  in  1840  the  government  took  possession  of  their  vast 
estates,  and  five  years  afterward  sold  them  to  the  highest  bidders. 
Hence  came  the  "  Mexican  grants,"  which,  being  allowed  when 
the  country  was  ceded  to  the  United  States,  have  been  sold  to 
enterprising  Yankees,  and  are  now  their  colossal  monopolies. 

A  few  miles  from  Los  Angeles  is  the  famous  mission  of 
San  Gabriel.  The  church,  one  hundred  and  six  years  old,  one 
of  the  earliest  built  after  the  landing  of  the  Franciscans  at  San 
Diego,  is  in  excellent  preservation,  though  time-stained  and 
mossgrown  with  age.  The  mission  no  longer  serves  for  the  con- 
version of  Indians.  They  have  disappeared  entirely,  or  left  the 
dregs  of  their  blood  to  wander  in  a  slow  current  through  the 
veins  of  Mexican  "  greasers."  A  few  of  these  half-castes  still 
remain  to  prostrate  themselves  before  the  altar  and  to  remind 
the  sad  Franciscan  brothers  of  their  order's  sway,  when 
clouds  of  natives  flocked  to  the  standard  of  the  Cross,  and 
willing  slaves  stocked  their  larders  with  provisions  and  their 
cellars  with  wine.  Now  they  look  about  them  and  behold  the 
stranger  and  the  heretic  gathering  the  fruits  of  their  labors. 
The  people  of  Los  Angeles  are  indebted  to  those  old  fathers, 
not  only  for  their  land,  but  for  its  most  valuable  productions. 
They  brought  with  them  from  Mexico  the  orange  and  the  vine. 
The  mission  grounds  now  contain  trees  one  hundred  years  old, 


62  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

and  the  mission  grape,  from  which  most  of  the  wine  of  this 
district  is  made,  has  been  the  most  profitable  product  of  the 
soil.  From  the  bottle  of  its  pure  juice  before  us,  we  drink  to 
the  memory  of  the  Friars  of  the  Order  of  San  Francisco. 


LOS  ANGELOS,  ETC.  Q-> 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Los  Angeles — Disappearance  of  the  Greasers — A  Ken- 
tuckian's  discovery  of  contentment — The  founder  op 
the  California  wine  industry — Statistics  of  orange 
culture. 

The  city  of  Los  Angeles  is  in  a  condition  of  renaissance.  It 
is  throwing  off  its  old  caterpillar  Spanish  nature,  and  coming 
out  to  soar  on  the  gay  wings  of  its  new  existence.  It  is  al- 
ready so  changed  that  there  are  few  traces  of  the  Mexican 
element  which  formed  its  total  population  thirty  years  ago. 
In  a  score  and  a  half  of  years  it  has  grown  from  a  slow 
pueblo  of  adobes,  to  a  thriving  city  of  business  streets  and  costly 
dwellings.  The  old  inhabitants  who  remain  are  driven  into  a 
cluster  of  little  hovels  and  vendas  with  Spanish  signs,  where 
patois  Castilian  may  be  heard,  brown  senoras  seen,  and  the 
aroma  of  garlic  scented.  The  disappearance  of  the  "greasers" 
is  a  more  curious  study  than  that  of  the  Indians.  They  were, 
and  they  are  not ;  nobody  has  murdered  them ;  they  have  died 
of  no  epidemic  ;  they  have  not  emigrated,  and  there  has  been 
no  impediment  to  their  birth.  What  has  become  of  them  no 
one  knows,  they  have  only  faded  out  of  sight. 

Los  Angeles  is  now  an  American  city  of  eighteen  thousand 


64  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

inhabitants,  prosperous  and  gaining  in  population  and  wealth, 
having  already  reached  the  fourth  rank  in  the  State.  It  is  not 
strictly  a  sea-port,  although  it  is  connected  with  the  ocean  by 
two  railroads,  one  extending  twenty  miles  to  Wilmington,  and 
the  other  reaching  Santa  Monica  by  a  shorter  route.  These 
make  it  the  favorite  headquarters  for  invalids,  who  generally  find 
the  air  of  the  city  agreeable  ;  but  if  they  desire  a  change  they 
obtain  it  in  an  hour  at  the  sea-shore.  The  temperature  is  re- 
markably even  for  the  whole  year,  mostly  averaging  between 
sixty  and  seventy  degrees  Fahrenheit,  seldom  exceeding  the  lat- 
ter. Many  persons  of  delicate  constitution,  incapacitated  for 
work  in  the  Eastern  States,  coming  here  merely  for  their  health, 
regain  it  to  such  a  degree  that  they  are  able  to  engage  in  busi- 
ness or  farming.  Of  such  persons  and  their  families,  no  incon- 
siderable part  of  this  population  is  composed.  After  remaining 
a  short  time  on  compulsion,  they  fix  their  abodes  for  the  remain- 
der of  their  lives  from  choice.  When  you  ask  them  if  they 
never  intend  to  return  to  their  old  homes,  they  invariably  reply  : 
"  Yes,  I  should  like  to  go  back — for  a  visit." 

Mr.  Bliss,  a  Kentuckian,  told  us  that  he  came  out  prospecting, 
not  for  silver  or  gold,  but  for  a  home.  He  tried  all  sorts  of 
homes  for  a  while,  living  in  cities  and  on  ranches,  and  was  finally 
tempted  to  purchase  his  present  dwelling,  about  a  mile  from  the 
centre  of  the  city.  This  was  a  forty-acre  lot,  having  on  it  an 
adobe  house  which  he  made  exceedingly  pretty  by  adding 
another  story.  His  grounds  were  already  planted  with  twenty- 
two  acres  of  vines,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  orange 
trees  in  full  bearing,  besides  young  orchards  and  vineyards  rap- 
idly maturing  ;  and  all  the  rest  not  occupied  as  a  beautiful  flower 
garden,  was  laid  down  to  alfalfa.  I  would  not  thus  notice  the 
estate  of  a  private  gentleman  who  so  kindly  entertained  us,  with- 


LOS  ANGELES,  ETC.  65 

out  his  permission  ;  and  I  mention  this  instance  mainly  to  illus- 
trate the  comforts  of  life  that  may  be  acquired  by  those  of 
moderate  means  whose  health  or  inclination  leads  them  to 
search  for  the  desirable  habitations  easily  attainable  here.  Mr. 
Bliss  purchased  the  place  for  $18,000,  and  has  expended  on  his 
house,  stable  and  other  outfits  $7,000  more,  so  that  it  cost  him 
altogether,  about  $25,000. 

Now  let  us  see  what  this  farm  or  garden — as  one  may  choose 
to  call  it — will  yield  in  an  ordinarily  productive  year,  leaving  out 
of  account  the  incipient  orchards,  whose  profit  is  in  the  future, 
and  supposing  the  space  they  occupy  to  be  planted  with  alfalfa  : 

32  acres  of  grapes,  as  sold  on  the  vines $2,200 

3  acres,  containing  175  orange  trees,  the  oranges  selling  for  $20  a  tree.  3,500 
2  acres  occupied  by  house,  stable  and  flower  garden 

13  acres  of  alfalfa 1,300 


Total $7,000 

The  labor  employed  is  little,  as  the  oranges  and  grapes  are 
sold  on  the  trees  and  vines.  All  the  weeding,  pruning  and 
mowing  can  be  done  by  two  Chinamen  at  an  expense  of  seven 
hundred  dollars  a  year.  It  must  be  remembered  that  this  value 
of  the  crop  will  be  greatly  enhanced  when  the  young  orange 
groves  and  vineyards  come  to  maturity.  It  may  be  said  that 
every  one  has  not  the  capital  wherewith  to  purchase  an  already 
productive  estate.  Very  true  ;  but  youth  is  capital,  and  young 
men  can  afford  to  await  its  development.  Land  as  good  as  this 
can  be  bought  for  fifty  dollars  an  acre  or  less,  and  in  ten  years 
will  be  as  productive.  In  the  mean  time,  patient  economy  in 
raising  wheat  and  vegetables  and  the  product  of  the  wonderful 
alfalfa  will  support  life,  and  the  sure  hope  of  the  future  will  give 
it  a  zest. 

It  may  be  that  the  business  of  orange  culture  will  be  over- 

5 


66  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

done — this  is  a  matter  to  be  considered  ;  but  the  grape  can 
never  be  overproduced.  It  never  has  been  since  the  time  that 
Noah  came  forth  from  the  ark  to  give  it  his  earliest  attention. 
One  of  the  greatest  advantages  our  country  will  derive  from 
California  is  the  increasing  manufacture  of  pure  wine,  which 
introduced  among  the  people  will  overcome  their  taste  for 
poisonous  whiskey,  and  make  them  as  temperate  as  the  peasantry 
of  Southern  France  and  Italy.  Most  of  the  California  wine  has 
heretofore  been  made  from  the  Mission  grape,  introduced  at 
their  advent  by  the  Franciscan  Friars.  Latterly  the  white  Mus- 
cat has  received  more  favor. 

The  name  of  the  man  who  first  showed  the  capabilities  of 
California  as  a  wine-producing  State,  and  whose  children  have 
seen  his  efforts  crowned  with  success,  was  Haraszthy,  a  Hun- 
garian refugee,  who  came  here  not  many  years  ago.  I  remem- 
ber hearing  him  in  New  York  speak  enthusiastically  of  his  plans 
for  California,  and  I  remember  how,  in  common  with  others,  I 
regarded  his  schemes  as  wild  and  visionary.  But  he  persevered 
until  he  gained  the  confidence  of  the  Legislature  of  California, 
who  sent  him  back  to  Europe  to  procure  the  choicest  vines  of  all 
its  wine-producing  countries.  How  he  succeeded  on  his  mission 
the  hillsides  and  valleys  of  the  State  from  Sacramento  to  San 
Diego  attest.  Millions  of  vines  every  year  entwine  their  wreaths 
to  crown  his  memory,  and  to  keep  it  green  and  fruitful  like 
themselves. 

We  drove  through  the  "  Mission  fruit  belt "  eight  miles  from 
the  city.  After  reaching  it  the  road  for  miles  was  a  perpetual 
boulevard  of  orange  trees — sometimes  a  forest  of  them — or  of 
lemons,  limes,  walnuts,  almonds  and  olives.  Where  they  were 
not,  the  fields  for  hundreds  of  acres  on  each  side  were  covered 
with  clustering  vines  just  forming  their  blossoms  into  grapes 


LOS  ANGELES,  ETC  67 

The  most  extensive  orchards  and  vineyards  were  those  of 
Messrs.  Rose,  Titus,  Kewen  and  Baldwin,  whose  acres  are  to 
be  counted  by  thousands.  Beside  these,  the  small  proprietors 
possess  their  hundreds  and  the  cottagers  their  tens.  All  the 
trees  and  vines  are  not  yet  fully  grown,  but  an  idea  may  be 
formed  of  their  present  productiveness  when  it  is  remembered 
that  last  year  Southern  California  sent  to  market  two  million 
seven  hundred  thousand  oranges,  three  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand lemons,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  thousand  limes, 
most  of  them  coming  from  Los  Angelos  and  its  immediate 
neighborhood.  Of  the  grapes  I  have  no  statistics,  as  most  of 
them  are  pressed  into  wine  on  the  spot.  The  culture  of  oranges 
is  attracting  the  greatest  attention. 

The  Southern  Californian  has  "  orange  on  the  brain."  He 
dreams  of  oranges  at  night,  and  they  are  his  realities  by  day. 
Will  the  thing  be  overdone  ?  Let  us  see.  There  is  one  nursery 
containing  five  hundred  thousand  slips  destined  to  be  trees  ; 
there  are  many  more  perhaps  not  so  large.  A  tree  reaches  per- 
fection in  fifteen  years.  In  fifteen  years,  if  one  hundred  thou- 
sand acres  are  planted — and  that  is  an  exceedingly  moderate 
estimate — with  sixty-four  trees  to  the  acre,  there  will  be  six 
million  four  hundred  thousand  trees.  Each  tree  averaging  one 
thousand  oranges,  there  will  be  six  thousand  four  hundred 
million  oranges.  We  will  suppose  that  in  fifteen  years  from 
this  time  the  population  of  the  United  States  shall  reach  sixty 
millions,  and  that  these  people  are  all  able  to  buy  oranges  and 
cannot  get  them  from  any  source  but  California.  There  will  be 
one  hundred  and  six  oranges  and  two-thirds  of  an  orange  for 
each  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  country. 


68  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Natural   Divisions   of  California — Anaheim — A   Thrifty 
German  Settlement. 

California  is  cosmopolitan  in  its  inhabitants  and  universal 
in  its  productions.  As  its  people  come  from  every  part  of  the 
world  there  is  too  great  a  variety  for  sharp  divisions  in  religion, 
or  social  life.  Their  quarrels  would  be  many-sided,  so  they 
have  wisely  concluded  not  to  occupy  their  time  in  fighting,  but 
to  settle  down  into  an  olla  podrida  of  good-fellowship.  The 
plants  and  cereals  get  on  in  the  same  amicable  manner — the 
orange  trees  forming  avenues  through  the  wheat-fields,  and  the 
vine  growing  lovingly  by  the  side  of  shocks  of  Indian  corn. 
Climate,  however,  has  drawn  a  line  through  the  State.  It  does 
not  disturb  the  friendly  relations  of  mankind  and  of  nature,  but 
it  gives  a  greater  preponderance  of  different  classes  to  different 
latitudes.  Thus  Northern  California  is  for  the  most  part  settled 
by  northern  men,  robust  and  enterprising  farmers  and  miners. 
They  have  taken  possession  of  the  lands  best  suited  to  their 
character — lands  where  corn  and  wheat  best  thrive,  and  rocky 
hills  where  gold  abounds.  On  the  contrary,  Southern  California 
is  more  often  the  home  of  the  less  active  southerners,  who  hail 
from  the  lower  Middle  and  Gulf  States,  or  from  France  and  Italy. 


NA  TURAL  DIVISIONS  OF  CALIFORNIA,  ETC.  69 

They  become  ranchmen  or  fruit-growers,  their  indolent  habits 
leading  them  to  prefer  the  care  of  herds  and  the  culture  of  the 
grape  and  semi-tropical  fruits  to  the  harder  toil  of  the  husband- 
man and  the  gold-hunter.  Here  the  atmosphere  and  soil  kindly 
respond  to  their  more  modest  requirements,  and  yield  a  sufficient 
reward  for  lighter  labor. 

It  is  true  that  northern  and  southern  men,  as  well  as  wheat 
and  vines,  gold  and  orange  trees,  are  to  be  found  everywhere, 
but  latitude  draws  a  general  line  between  them,  notwithstanding 
their  universal  harmony.  It  seemed  to  us  that  there  was  not 
the  same  haste  to  be  rich  among  the  people  of  Los  Angeles  that 
we  found  in  San  Francisco.  We  saw  no  excited  crowds  turning 
the  street  corners  into  stock  exchanges  ;  there  was  little  talk 
of  Consolidated  Virginia,  California  and  Sierra  Nevada ;  but 
people  were  mildly  excited  about  cattle  and  sheep,  vines  and 
orange  trees.  There  must  be  something  fascinating  in  having 
beautiful  things  grow  up  around  one's  home,  promising  such 
splendid  results  for  so  small  an  outlay.  There  is  Mr.  Wolfskill, 
in  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  whose  father  planted  an  orchard 
and  vineyard  now  producing  annually  thirty  thousand  dollars  for 
his  son,  who  has  merely  to  look  on  from  year  to  year  as  the 
golden  treasures  fall  into  his  lap,  and  the  wine  flows  out  in  a 
rich  stream. 

Not  far  from  the  city  we  found  the  "  Indiana  Colony,"  so 
named,  perhaps,  from  the  fact  that  the  State  of  Indiana  is  the 
one  least  represented.  Here  are  several  thousand  acres  laid 
out  as  orange  plantations,  and  two  or  three  dozen  cottages 
awaiting  the  shade  trees  growing  up  to  beautify  them.  Some  of 
the  residents  expressed  their  doubts  of  rapidly  acquiring  a 
fortune,  but  all  agreed  that  the  neighborhood  was  well  adapted 
to  persons  suffering  from  bronchial  or  pulmonary  ailments. 


7b  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

The  land  in  these  valleys  is  watered  chiefly  by  the  Los  Angeles 
and  Santa  Ana  rivers,  two  queer  little  streams  that  play  "  hide 
and  seek  "  from  their  sources  until  they  are  lost  in  the  Pacific. 
It  is  supposed  that  they  are  continuations  of  the  Humboldt  and 
other  waters,  which  disappear  far  beyond  the  Sierras,  and  after 
undermining  them,  gush  forth  in  salient  fountains  on  the  western 
slope.  Thence  they  course  down  the  plains,  sometimes  on  the 
surface,  then  sinking  again  but  easily  followed  in  their  tracks, 
and  with  a  little  digging  brought  to  light.  The  Santa  Ana 
serves  the  purpose  of  abundant  irrigation  at  Riverside,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  and  then  comes  forth  to  be  likewise  employed 
at  Anaheim.  This  is  an  exceedingly  pretty  town  of  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  inhabitants,  and  has  a  history  as  romantic  as 
fiction. 

Twenty-one  years  ago  some  Germans  who  had  drifted  to  San 
Francisco  in  search  of  gold  became  dissatisfied  with  their 
adventure,  and,  longing  for  the  vineyards  of  the  Rhine,  would 
gladly  have  returned  to  their  old  homes.  While  they  were  con- 
sidering this  step  it  occurred  to  some  of  them  that,  as  they  could 
not  conveniently  get  back  to  Germany,  they  might  in  a  manner 
bring  Germany  to  California.  They  had  heard  of  the  adaptation 
of  land  in  the  South  to  the  culture  of  the  grape,  and  of  its  suc- 
cess in  the  hands  of  the  old  Franciscan  monks.  Accordingly, 
with  a  spirit  of  enterprise  which  was  creditable  to  their  new 
idea,  and  with  a  concentration  of  capital  and  labor  attesting 
their  mutual  confidence,  they  dispatched  an  agent  to  Los  Angeles 
to  survey  and  purchase  for  them  a  tract  of  land.  This  agent, 
Mr.  Hansen,  was  a  practical  engineer,  who  is  still  living  to 
enjoy  the  satisfaction  of  witnessing  the  happiness  to  which 
he  so  largely  contributed.  Armed  with  full  authority  and  a 
fund  subscribed   by  fifty  of   his  countrymen,  he  came  to  the 


NATURAL  DIVISIONS  OF  CALIFORNIA,  ETC.  jx 

desert  plain  now  occupied  by  Anaheim,  took  up  the  apparently 
valueless  land  at  small  cost,  dug  a  canal  seven  miles  long  from 
the  Santa  Ana,  and  divided  the  area  of  eleven  hundred  and 
sixty-six  acres  into  fifty  private  lots  of  twenty  acres  each,  reserv- 
ing the  rest  for  schools  and  other  public  buildings.  Before  any 
distribution  was  made  he  turned  irrigating  canals  on  every  lot, 
set  out  rows  of  willows  or  Cottonwood  trees  around  them,  and 
planted  eight  acres  of  each  with  vines.  When  three  years  had 
elapsed,  and  not  before,  the  purchasers  were  called  to  take 
possession. 

The  distribution  was  made  by  lot,  according  to  value — some 
paying  more  and  some  less,  all  in  just  proportion.  At  the  end 
of  three  years  every  stockholder  had  paid  on  an  average  twelve 
hundred  dollars,  including  assessments,  and  when  the  property 
was  divided  there  was  a  surplus  to  each  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  dollars,  and  they  had  their  land  nearly  half  planted  with 
thrifty  vines  and  all  irrigated  and  fenced.  There  was  nothing 
for  them  to  do  but  to  go  to  work,  and  this  they  did  energetically, 
in  brotherly  co-operation.  Many  of  them  are  still  on  the  spot, 
having  raised  their  families  around  them,  built  school-houses  and 
churches,  a  theatre,  dance  house  and  Wcingarten,  and  now  they 
are  the  happiest  people  in  one  of  the  loveliest  towns  we  ever 
beheld. 

The  history  of  Anaheim  is  not  unlike  that  of  San  Bernardino, 
both  having  been  started  by  a  bond  of  fellowship  productive  of 
good  results.  Each  of  these  villages,  so  tastefully  laid  out  by 
their  founders,  so  well  cultivated  and  improved,  blooms  like  a 
little  Eden  of  happiness  and  repose.  As  we  walked  through  the 
shaded  streets  of  Anaheim,  passing  the  cottages  adorned  by 
trailing  vines  and  flowers,  and  in  the  evening  caught  the  chorus 
of  German  songs,  we  seemed  to  be  carried  back  to   the   Father- 


-j 2  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

land,  where  we  had  often  witnessed  similar  scenes.  But  how 
greatly  was  the  Fatherland  improved  upon  by  the  absence  of 
poverty  and  the  presence  of  comforts  in  this  new  home  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ana,  so  happily  named  the  Ana  Heim  ! 

Such  agreeable  surroundings  could  not  fail  to  attract  others 
to  the  town  and  its  environs,  where  nearly  three  thousand  peo- 
ple are  now  domesticated.  The  German  purchase  formed  only 
a  small  part  of  the  extensive  "  Steam's  Ranches,"  originally 
comprising  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  acres,  of  which 
sixty-five  thousand  have  been  already  sold  and  tenanted. 

While  at  Los  Angeles  I  received  the  following  note  from  the 
agent  who  has  this  extensive  property  in  charge  : 

"Dear  Sir:  As  I  understand  that  you  are  travelling  through  Southern 
California,  and,  of  course,  desire  to  see  the  best,  as  you  have  already  seen 
much  of  the  worst  part  of  it,  I  invite  you  to  visit  Anaheim  ;  and  if  you  will 
give  me  time  I  will  take  great  pleasure  in  showing  you  the  surrounding  coun- 
try, which,  in  this  dry  season,  presents  a  marked  contrast  to  what  you  have 
seen  during  your  journey,  excepting  where  the  land  was  irrigated.  We  have 
greater  advantages  for  irrigation  than  any  other  part  of  California,  and  we 
have,  in  addition,  thousands  of  acres  of  land  always  moist  and  covered  with 
perpetual  verdure,  pastures  that  require  no  irrigation  and  never  fail.  I  wish 
to  show  you  that,  instead  of  the  dry,  hot  country  that  we  are  supposed  to 
have,  you  will  find  a  fertile  soil  with  an  abundance  of  water,  a  mild,  genial, 
temperate  climate  never  either  hot  or  cold,  and  a  remarkable  growth  of  vege- 
tation, such  as  is  seen  nowhere  else.     Yours  truly, 

"  Wm.  R.  Olden." 

It  affords  us  great  pleasure  to  bear  witness  that  Mr.  Olden 
has  not  by  any  means  exaggerated  the  advantages  of  this  region  ; 
moreover,  he  gave  us  the  opportunity  of  much  enjoyment  and  an 
experience  of  the  most  agreeable  hospitality. 

Anaheim  lies  twenty-seven  miles  in  a  south-easterly  direc- 
tion from  Los  Angeles,  and  is  only  thirteen  miles  from  the  sea- 
coast.  Its  climate  is  somewhat  cooler  than  that  of  its  neigh- 
bor in  the  summer,  as  the  sea  breeze  always  prevails  in  the  af- 


NATURAL  DIVISIONS  OF  CALIFORNIA,  ETC.  73 

ternoon.  Satisfactory  as  this  condition  is  to  most  persons,  those 
having  weak  lungs  should  give  the  preference  to  the  interior,  un- 
less they  are  willing  to  risk  an  occasional  cold  as  an  offset  to  a 
constant  tonic.  The  best  advice  to  invalids  is  not  to  settle  down 
anywhere.  They  are  often  inclined  to  do  so,  and  they  should 
always  have  a  policeman  after  them  ordering  them  to  "  move 
on." 


74 


THE  ROUND  TRIP. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Sanguine  "  Sanjaigans  " — Effects  of  the  Drought — Santa 
Monica — A  Steamship  with  a  History — San  Buenaven- 
tura— The  Ojai  Valley — Missionary  Enterprise. 

Had  time  permitted,  we  might  advantageously  have  extended 
our  tour  beyond  Anaheim  one  hundred  and  ten  miles  to  San 
Diego,  the  last  city  of  Southern  California  on  the  Pacific  coast ; 
No  journal  is  absolutely  complete  that  does  not  comprise  a  ref- 
erence to  this  point,  not  only  connected  with  the  earliest  history 
of  the  State,  but  one  that  purposes  to  be  a  rival  of  San  Francisco 
so  soon  as  railroad  communication  from  the  East  is  perfected. 

"That  time  is  fast  coming,"  said  a  visionary  "  Sanjaigan." 
"  We  have  the  finest  harbor  on  the  coast."  (By  the  bye  I  have 
heard  that  remark  at  every  open  roadstead  between  San  Pedro 
and  San  Francisco.)  "  We  shall  draw  all  the  travel  from  the 
East  on  a  road  not  blocked  with  snow,  and  we  shall  of  course 
have  all  the  trade  with  China  by  way  of  the  Sandwich  Islands. 
In  ten  years,  sir,  San  Francisco  will  be  nowhere."  All  the  San 
Diego  people  whom  we  met  looked  upon  Tom  Scott  and  Jay 
Gould  as  their  good  angels.  Scott  would  be  sure  to  bring  them 
a  road  from  Texas,  and  Gould  would  continue  the  "  Utah  South- 
ern "  through  the  Gorgonio  Pass  to  their  town,  thus  connecting 


SANGUINE  "SANJAIGANS,"  ETC.  75 

New  York,  the  present  greatest  city  on  the  Atlantic,  with  San 
Diego,  the  future  greatest  city  on  the  Pacific. 

Before  turning  our  faces  to  the  North  it  may  not  be  amiss  to 
refer  once  more  to  the  chief  agricultural  resources  of  Southern 
California,  compressing  the  trustworthy  information  obtained 
into  the  smallest  possible  space.  I  have  already  described  the 
vineyards  and  orange  groves,  but  those  are  by  no  means  all 
that  the  farmer  depends  upon.  Indeed  they  are  yet  in  their 
incipient  stages. 

The  old  Mexicans  relied  for  subsistence  almost  entirely  upon 
their  flocks  and  herds,  and  these  are  still  the  most  productive 
sources  of  revenue  to  the  rancheros.  The  unusually  dry  season 
had  made  sad  havoc  among  the  cattle  and  sheep.  The  same 
cause  operated  disastrously  on  the  corn,  barley  and  wheat  of  the 
uplands.  Of  these  nine-tenths  were  lost.  The  oranges,  limes, 
figs,  lemons,  olives,  almonds,  walnuts  and  grapes,  being  mostly 
cultivated  on  irrigated  land  were  in  their  usual  abundance,  and 
the  cereals  grown  on  similar  ground  were  more  profitable  because 
of  the  general  famine.  The  conclusion  is  that  no  man  who  is 
not  willing  to  take  his  chances  in  a  lottery  should  invest  in  cat- 
tle or  sheep,  or  in  land  that  cannot  be  irrigated  as  occasion 
requires. 

Sixteen  miles  from  Los  Angelos  is  the  charming  watering- 
place  of  Santa  Monica.  As  the  village  forms  part  of  a  large 
ranche,  the  proprietors,  of  whom  Senator  Jones  of  Nevada  is 
chief,  have  laid  it  out  with  a  view  to  make  it  attractive,  and  thus 
to  benefit  the  rest  of  their  property.  Is  has  been  called  the 
"Long  Branch  of  California,"  and  is  far  superior  to  its  name- 
sake in  every  natural  resource.  The  town,  consisting  at  present 
of  a  large  comfortable  hotel  and  its  adjacent  saloons,  billiard 
rooms  and  stables,  beside  a  few  private  cottages,  stands  on  a 


■j 6  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

high  bluff  in  the  bight  of  a  bay  lined  from  point  to  point  by  a 
hard,  wide  sand  beach.  The  breakers  seldom  dash  and  roar  as 
they  do  on  the  Long  Branch  of  the  Atlantic,  but  the  milder  Pa- 
cific sends  them  in  to  curl  in  long  festoons  of  green  water,  and 
to  beat  their  time  of  softer  music  on  the  shore.  Along  the  bluff 
for  two  miles  there  extends  a  straight  race  course,  for  running 
horses,  on  which  not  unfrequently  may  be  witnessed  such  skilful 
horsemanship  in  chasing  and  lassoing  as  would  astonish  our 
eastern  park  equestrians.  The  temperature  of  Santa  Monica  is 
very  equable,  and  the  daily  sea  breeze  renders  it  a  most  agreea- 
ble spot.  The  company's  steamers  touch  here  three  times  a 
week  in  their  trips  from  San  Francisco  to  San  Diego,  and  on 
their  return. 

We  left  Santa  Monica  at  6  o'clock  of  the  afternoon  on  the 
old  steamer  Senator,  a  ship  that  had  been  recently  rebuilt  and 
put  in  excellent  condition.  This  little  craft  of  one  thousand 
tons  has  a  history.  She  has  probably  earned  more  money  than 
any  vessel  ever  known.  It  was  a  daring  but  successful  adven- 
ture to  send  her  from  New  York  through  the  Straits  of  Magellan 
in  1848.  When  she  reached  San  Francisco  thousands  of 
men  were  there,  and  hundreds  daily  arriving,  who  had  no  means 
of  ascending  the  Sacramento  River  on  their  way  to  the  placer 
mines.  The  Senator,  the  first  steamer  that  had  ever  floated  on 
those  waters,  was  immediately  placed  upon  the  route.  Her 
owners  were  able  to  fix  the  rates  of  passage  and  freight  at 
any  sum  they  pleased.  Day  after  day  and  month  after  month 
for  the  first  year  this  bonanza  boat  gathered  in  not  unfrequently 
fifty  thousand  dollars  for  the  trip  of  a  few  hours'  time.  This 
monopoly  could  not  last  forever  ;  one  rival  after  another  ap- 
peared on  the  Sacramento  to  claim  a  share  of  the  spoils,  and 
finally  the  railroad  settled  their  pretensions  by  taking  the  trade 


SANGUINE  "SANJAIGANS,"  ETC.  77 

for  itself.  The  race-horse  who  in  his  youth  has  won  the  stakes, 
in  his  age  draws  the  wagon  ;  so  the  Senator  took  her  place  in 
the  Coast  Line,  with  newer  but  not  better  ships  than  her 
staunch  old  self.  The  ancient  "  forty-niners  "  patronize  her  for 
association's  sake.  "  Yes,  sir,"  said  one  of  them  whom  we  met 
in  her  cabin,  "  this  blessed  old  barkey  carried  me  on  my  first 
trip  to  the  mines.  She  has  earned  money  enough  in  gold  to 
sink  her  to  her  guards,  God  bless  her  !  "  A  Californian  never 
loses  his  respect  for  any  person  or  any  thing  that  has  "  made 
money." 

After  a  run  of  six  hours,  we  left  the  steamer  at  Buenaventura, 
preferring,  for  the  sake  of  seeing  the  country,  to  take  the  stage 
for  the  remainder  of  the  route.  San  Buenaventura  richly  de- 
serves its  whole  name.  Its  former  owners  found  time  to  pro- 
nounce it  in  full,  but  the  present  proprietors,  whose  time  is 
money,  have  dropped  the  San  altogether,  and  in  common  speech 
cutoff  half  the  remainder;  with  them  it  is  Ventura.  By  and 
by  it  will  be  Tura,  and  that  will  do  better  for  men  in  too  great 
a  hurry  to  adopt  the  present  pronunciation. 

Call  it  what  they  please,  it  is  a  lovely  little  town.  Before  it 
rolls  the  broad  ocean  ;  behind  it  is  the  Coast  Range,  through 
which  runs  the  lovely  Valley  of  the  Ojai,  on  whose  slopes  are 
the  old  Spanish  ranches,  now  divided  into  smaller  farms,  where 
grain  and  fruit  are  raised  in  the  greatest  abundance.  For  the 
tourist  and  the  seeker  of  health,  the  Ojai  has  great  attractions. 
It  is  far  enough  from  the  sea  to  escape  its  rough  winds,  and 
near  enough  for  its  air  to  be  tempered  by  them  as  they  pass 
over  the  intervening  country.  For  the  agriculturist  no  better  soil 
can  be  found.  The  recent  discoveries  of  petroleum  in  this 
neighborhood  have  given  a  new  importance  to  Buenaventura, 
and  brought  it  into  notice  as  a  commercial  port. 


7 8  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

Those  glorious  old  pioneer  fanatics,  the  Franciscan  monks, 
who  had  already  settled  San  Diego  and  Los  Angeles,  sailed 
along  the  coast,  and  landed  here  in  1782,  founding  the  mission 
now  standing  in  good  preservation.  They  at  once  began  their 
double  work  of  converting  the  natives  and  cultivating  the  soil, 
and  soon  acquired  a  controlling  influence  over  the  Indians. 
Twenty  years  afterward  the  convent  records  classify  the  abo- 
rigines— some  as  "  gentiles,  wild  Indians,"  who  refuse  to  be 
domesticated  ;  others,  "  converted  Indians,  good  Indians,  In- 
dians fit  to  die."  Of  such  who  were  living  in  the  village  about 
the  mission,  there  were  then  nine  hundred  and  thirty-eight. 

The  success  attending  farming  was  equal  to  that  of  conver- 
sion. In  1825,  the  mission  owned  more  than  seventy  thousand 
head  of  cattle,  horses,  and  sheep,  beside  orchards,  vineyards* 
and  church  property,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dol" 
lars  in  cash.  Now,  that  is  making  missionary  enterprise  a 
profitable  undertaking  in  the  hands  of  good  managers.  Herein 
those  old  Catholic  padres  have  certainly  shown  more  financial 
wisdom  than  any  of  the  Protestant  societies  have  evinced  in 
their  operations  which  call  for  constant  outlay.  Doubtless  the 
secret  of  their  conversions  might  be  found  in  the  greater  adapt- 
ability of  their  forms  and  ceremonies  to  the  character  of  the 
Indians ;  but  their  worldly  wisdom  was  acquired  by  a  more 
thorough  education  and  a  closer  study  of  nature  at  large,  as  well 
as  of  human  nature,  than  is  now  required  for  the  outfit  of  a 
missionary  to  the  heathen. 


A  STAGE  RIDE  UP  THE  CALIFORNIA  COAST,  ETC.      79 


CHAPTER  XL 

A  Stage  Ride  up  the  California  Coast — The  Coacher's 
Yarns  —  How  a  Clergyman  was  Re-Baptized  —  The 
City  with  the  Perfect  Climate — A  Small  Landowner 
and  his  Trifling  Possessions. 

Our  thanks  to  you,  Messrs.  Flint,  Bixby  &  Co  !  We  regard 
you  as  the  representatives  of  a  method  of  locomotion  fast  be- 
coming obsolete,  but  kept  alive  by  you  for  the  benefit  of  those 
who  travel  to  see  all  that  can  be  seen.  Here  the  old  stage- 
coach still  lives.  No  iron  horse  snorts  defiance  to  its  prancing 
leaders,  or  runs  through  cuts  and  holes  in  the  mountains  to  shut 
the  light  of  day  and  the  wild  magnificence  of  nature  from  our 
sight.  Long  may  it  be  before  his  track  is  laid  over  these  vast 
solitudes  of  sierras  and  plains  !  It  is  not  a  wish  agreeable  to 
speculators  in  town  lots  and  real  estate.  We  speak  only  for 
ourselves  and  for  those  who  may  follow  in  our  wake. 

At  Newhall,  a  point  on  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  where 
it  crosses  the  Mojave  Desert,  this  stage  line  begins  and  runs  in 
a  north-west  direction  fifty  miles  to  Buenaventura.  Thence  it 
continues  along  the  sea-shore  thirty  miles  to  Santa  Barbara,  and 
thence  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  miles  further  to  Soledad. 
We  took  the  coach  at  Buenaventura.     Nearly  the  whole  distance 


8o  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

to  Santa  Barbara  was  accomplished  on  the  beach,  the  tide  being 
fortunately  at  low  ebb.  The  politeness  of  our  fellow-passengers 
gave  us  seats  upon  the  box  with  the  driver,  whose  ceaseless 
yarns  of  border  life  divided  our  attention  with  the  ceaseless  roar 
of  the  breakers.  He  related,  with  great  satisfaction,  an  exploit 
of  himself  and  six  comrades  in  coralling  eighty-five  Indians  who 
had  committed  some  depredations  on  a  settlement.  The  red- 
skins were  surprised  on  a  small  island,  and,  as  they  attempted 
to  leave,  were  shot  from  the  shore  of  the  lake,  falling  one  by 
one  until  none  were  left  alive.  This  happened  twenty  years  ago, 
about  the  time  of  the  Mountain  Meadow  Massacre.  We  have 
all  heard  of  that,  but  "  who  had  heard  this  story  before  ? "  I 
asked  him.  "  Like  enough,  nobody  out  East,"  he  replied.  "  Per- 
haps they  never  heard  of  our  killing  about  as  many  rattlesnakes 
one  morning,  either  ?  " 

It  was  a  lovely  day  as  we  drove  over  the  smooth  surface  of 
the  beach,  fanned  by  the  light  breeze,  and  inhaling  the  pure  air 
of  the  sea.  "  Sometimes  it  isn't  this  way,  though,"  said  the 
driver ;  "  I  was  coming  along  here  once  at  high  water,  when  it 
was  blowing  fresh.  At  such  times  I  generally  wait  for  the  tide 
to  go  down,  but  there  was  a  parson  inside,  and  he  was  in  a  big 
hurry.  He  wanted  me  to  drive  on.  Now  that  suited  me,  for  I 
hate  parsons  ;  so  I  let  the  cattle  go,  and,  just  as  I  expected,  a 
big  sea  come  in  and  went  clean  through  the  coach,  landing  a 
pile  of  kelp  on  top.  You  should  have  seen  that  minister  when 
we  got  by  the  point !  I  don't  know  what  denomination  he 
started  in  on,  but  he  wasn't  a  Free-Will  Baptist  when  he  got 
out." 

Long  before  we  reached  Santa  Barbara,  the  town  looked 
clown  upon  us  from  the  north  cape  of  the  bay,  where  it  is  spread 
out  on  the  southern  slope  of  the  hills,  completely  sheltered  from 


A  STAGE  RIDE  UP  THE  CALIFORNIA  COAST,  ETC.      81 

the  cold  winds  of  the  coast.  Probably  more  letters  are  written 
to  the  Eastern  press  from  Santa  Barbara  than  from  all  the  cities 
and  towns  of  California  combined.  It  has  come  to  be  regarded 
as  the  chief  health  resort  of  the  State,  and  I  am  not  sure  that 
it  does  not  merit  some  of  the  praise  that  has  been  passed 
upon  it.  As  to  its  climate,  its  advocates  go  too  far  in  claiming 
for  it  perfection.  We  have  never  yet  found  a  perfect  climate 
suited  to  all  conditions  of  health  and  disease,  and  I  do  not  be- 
lieve that  such  an  atmosphere  exists  below  the  level  of  Heaven. 
In  many  respects  San  Bernardino,  Los  Angeles  and  Anaheim 
are  superior  to  Santa  Barbara,  Santa  Monica  and  Buenaven- 
tura. The  former  are  at  a  distance,  greater  or  smaller,  from 
the  sea  coast ;  all  far  enough  not  to  be  affected  by  its  rough 
winds.  As  to  the  latter,  for  those  who  can  stand  the  sea  air, 
there  is  probably  little  choice  to  be  made,  if  climate  alone  is 
considered.  But  Santa  Barbara  being  voted  the  home  of  con- 
sumptives, every  thing  has  been  done  to  make  it  home-like 
and  attractive.  The  hotels  are  all  comfortable,  and  some  of 
them  luxurious.  Their  prices,  as  well  as  those  of  the  many 
boarding-houses,  are  graded  to  meet  requirements  of  wealth, 
competence  and  slender  means.  Three  poor  men  can  live  on 
the  money  one  rich  man  pays,  hotel  prices  running  from  one  to 
three  dollars  a  day,  and  board  by  the  month  being  still  more 
reasonable.  There  are  churches  of  almost  every  denomination, 
common  schools,  and  a  high  school  called  a  college.  Many 
people  of  leisure  and  culture  being  domesticated  here,  there  is 
no  want  of  society  and  its  attendants  of  parties,  clubs,  lec- 
tures, and  libraries.  The  winter  is  the  best  season  for  health, 
and  for  all  these  adjuncts  to  its  maintenance. 

At  the  time  of  our  stay,  the  few  days  were  termed  "  excep- 
tional."    We  meet  a  great  many  of  these  "  exceptionals  "  every- 

6 


82  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

where.  Every  morning  a  chilling  fog  arose  from  the  sea  and 
shrouded  the  town  in  a  veil  of  mist  till  nearly  mid-day.  They 
said  it  never  did  so  before,  and  never  would  do  so  again.  The 
weather  is  a  pet  of  these  Santa  Barbarians,  but  like  other  house- 
hold pets,  children  and  dogs,  it  does  not  always  "show  off  well " 
before  strangers.  There  are  many  pretty  drives  and  rides  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  good  carriages  and  saddle  horses  may  be  ob- 
tained on  moderate  terms. 

Colonel  W.  W.  Hollister,  who  is  well  known  on  this  coast  as 
a  political  economist  as  well  as  a  wealthy  ranchero,  invited  us  to 
pass  a  day  at  his  farm  of  three  thousand  six  hundred  acres,  a 
favorite  part  of  his  estate  of  nearly  one  hundred  thousand.  Be- 
side these,  I  may  add,  he  owns  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
thousand  more  in  partnership  with  Mr.  Dibblee.  In  1870  these 
gentlemen  sold  twenty  thousand  acres  for  three  hundred  and 
seventy  thousand  dollars,  part  of  a  Mexican  grant  purchased  by 
them  for  almost  nothing.  In  1874  the  crops  of  this  twenty 
thousand  acres  sold  for  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars. As  we  picnicked  in  a  dell  shaded  by  a  forest  of  live  oaks 
arching  their  branches  over  our  heads  and  forming  an  immense 
arbor,  the  colonel  sat  on  a  stump  and  related  the  story  of  his 
early  life. 

"  I  started  with  eight  thousand  sheep  from  Ohio,"  he  said, 
"in  1853.  By  loss  and  robbery  in  various  ways  they  were  re- 
duced to  eight  hundred  when  I  arrived  here.  We  were  four- 
teen months  on  the  way.  When  I  struck  the  place  where  my 
house  stands  yonder,  I  sat  down  to  rest  while  the  sheep  were 
grazing,  and  looking  around  at  the  beautiful  prospect  I  resolved 
to  settle  here.  I  took  up  a  section,  and  as  my  sheep  increased 
and  I  got  money,  I  bought  out  Mexican  grants.  Well,  I  don't 
know,"    he    continued    reflectively    twirling    his    walking-stick, 


A  STAGE  RIDE  UP  THE  CALIFORNIA  COAST,  ETC.      S$ 

''somehow  I  grew  rich  ;  I  couldn't  help  it.  The  sheep  and  the 
cattle  would  have  young  ones  ;  I  couldn't  help  that,  could  I  ?  The 
Greasers  wanted  to  sell  out  cheap  ;  I  couldn't  help  buying,  could 
I  ?  Whose  fault  is  it  ?  They  say  I'm  a  land-grabber.  Well, 
wouldn't  they  grab  if  they  could  ?  I  bought  the  land  at  market 
prices,  and  I'll  sell  it  at  market  prices  now,  in  lots,  small  or  large. 
Well,  well,"  he  added,  after  another  thoughtful  twirl,  as  his  eye 
brightened  with  satisfaction,  "my  cattle  and  my  sheep  are  dying 
off  for  want  of  grass  this  year  ;  nobody  offers  to  pay  me  for  my 
loss,  but  I'm  glad  it  will  make  some  people  happy." 

We  bade  the  hospitable  philosopher  good-by,  expressing 
our  sympathy  for  him  in  his  misfortunes ;  and,  after  riding 
through  the  grounds  of  Mr.  Cooper  and  Mr.  Stowe,  planted 
alike  with  vines  and  fruit  trees,  returned  to  our  hotel  from  a 
charming  excursion  of  thirty-five  miles. 


84  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  ups  and  downs  of  Travel — The  Death  of  the  Herds 
— A  Sand  Storm — San  Luis  Obispo — The  Springs  of  Paso 
de  Rubles — Baths  of  Water  and  of  Earth — German 
Explanation  of  the  Mud  Baths — Hotel  Life  in  a 
Cottage. 

Securing  outside  seats  on  the  coach,  we  left  Santa  Barbara 
at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning.  If  day  was  breaking  we  knew 
it  not,  for  it  must  have  been  breaking  far  above  the  dense  fog 
that  enveloped  us  in  a  wet  blanket  and  dampened  the  enthusiasm 
with  which  we  had  looked  forward  to  a  journey  across  the  moun- 
tains. Driving  ten  miles  over  a  level  grade,  we  began  to  ascend 
by  a  winding  road  until  the  highest  elevation  was  reached.  By 
actual  measurement  we  discovered  that  the  fog  was  eighteen 
hundred  feet  thick,  and  that  was  all  the  discovery  to  compensate 
for  our  disappointment  in  losing  the  view  of  the  plains,  and 
islands  dotting  the  sea. 

The  driver  jocosely  remarked  that  it  was  a  "  pleasant  morn- 
ing— pleasant,  I  mean,  by  contrast ;  for  coming  down  this  moun- 
tain in  a  fog  or  on  a  dark  night,  on  the  full  run  round  these 
short  turns  to  make  time,  when  I  can't  see  my  whip  handle, 
why  it  ain't  pleasant." 


THE  UPS  AND  DOWNS  OF  TRAVEL,  ETC.  85 

Occasionally,  as  we  caught  a  glimpse  of  precipices  overhang- 
ing unknown  abysses  when  our  wheels  were  a  foot  or  two  from 
the  edge  of  a  narrow  path,  we  realized  the  comparative  danger, 
and  were  willing  to  admit  that  by  contrast  the  daylight  was 
cheerful  and  bright. 

"  Here,  ma'am,"  said  the  driver  to  my  wife,  with  a  view  of 
allaying  her  apprehensions,  "  here's  the  place  where  my  two 
leaders  slipped  off  last  winter  and  went  down.  The  passengers 
jumped  out  lively  and  cut  the  traces  and  saved  the  wheelers  and 
the  coach,  but  the  leaders  were  killed.  Now  I  never  knew  the 
same  thing  to  happen  twice  on  the  same  spot."  Coming  to  an- 
other sharp  turn,  he  advised  her  to  "hold  on  tight,  but  you  needn't 
be  so  particular  as  if  you  was  coming  down  ;  here's  where  poor 
Tom  Buddington  fell  off  the  box  and  rolled  down  two  hundred 
feet.  The  agent  blamed  me  for  being  behind  time  that  morning, 
but  we  had  to  stop  to  pick  up  his  body  and  fetch  him  in." 

Surmounting  the  ridge  at  last,  we  had  a  little  experience  of  a 
down-hill  rush  around  corners  for  three  miles,  until  we  arrived  at 
the  breakfast  station.  This  shanty  was  in  charge  of  an  Irish 
lady,  who  obligingly  "  shooed  "  the  pigs  out  of  the  banquet  hall 
during  our  meal,  which  consisted  of  fried  bacon  to  look  at, 
and  some  excellent  roasted  potatoes  to  eat.  By  time  that  we 
were  ready  to  start  on  our  second  stage  the  fog  gathered 
itself  in  great  folds,  mounted  aloft  in  clouds  to  be  dispersed 
by  the  sun,  and  the  bright  day  reigned  supreme.  The  down 
grade,  though  not  so  long  as  the  ascent,  was  in  many  places 
quite  as  steep,  and,  like  it,  circled  round  projecting  crags, 
and  was  cut  through  notches  in  the  side-hills.  Then  we  de- 
scended, perhaps  a  thousand  feet,  until  we  reached  the  plateau 
of  a  park  nearly  one  hundred  miles  in  length,  and  ten  miles  in 
breadth. 


86  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

You  may  have  seen  the  parks  planted  with  white-oaks  on 
some  of  the  large  English  estates,  adorned  as  they  are  by  every 
device  of  artistic  taste  ;  but  you  would  confess,  on  driving  over 
this  park  of  nature,  that  they  resembled  it  only  in  miniature,  as 
a  hundred  acres  bear  comparison  with  a  hundred  miles,  and  as 
a  hundred  of  their  noble  trees  counted  against  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  these  nobler  live  oaks.  No  forester  could  have  set 
them  out  at  more  proper  distance  with  a  view  to  effect ;  no  skill 
in  pruning  could  have  made  them  more  graceful,  and  no  cultiva- 
tion could  give  to  the  English  oaks  the  everlasting  verdure  of 
this  pride  of  California. 

We  were  left  to  imagine  what  the  landscape  would  be  in  or- 
dinary seasons,  when  beneath  their  overhanging  branches  is 
spread  a  carpet  as  green  as  their  leaves ;  and  when,  instead 
of  the  few  lean  straggling  cattle  and  sheep,  tens  of  thousands 
of  herds  and  flocks  may  be  seen  grazing  upon  the  rich  abundance. 
Now,  all  was  parched  and  barren,  scarcely  a  spear  of  grass  was 
to  be  seen,  and  numbers  of  the  poor  beasts  had  literally  starved 
to  death. 

I  do  not  know  what  these  inoffensive  creatures  have  done 
to  suffer  thus.  Can  anybody  explain  this  mystery  of  Provi- 
dence ?  -Man  is  punished — we  understand  that  in  a  degree  ; 
theologians  attribute  it  to  sin,  either  of  our  own  or  of  Adam. 
But  what  had  these  beasts  or  their  progenitors  to  do  with  that  ? 
Lord  Dundreary  has  been  laughed  at  as  a  fool  ;  but  when  he 
says  of  another  matter  as  he  would  say  of  this — "  It  is  one  of 
those  things  that  no  fellow  can  find  out  " — he  shows  himself 
as  wise  as  any  of  us  who  attempt  to  reason  upon  it. 

Before  the  pasturage  failed  altogether,  many  of  the  herds  and 
flocks  were  driven  away  ;  but  now  they  could  find  nothing  to 
eat  while   on   their  journey.     It   was   imperative,  therefore,  to 


THE  UPS  AND  DOWNS  OF  TRAVEL,  ETC.  87 

slaughter  them.  A  man  near  Santa  Barbara  had  been  compelled 
to  sacrifice  forty  thousand  sheep  to  save  their  skins.  Another 
shipped  three  hundred  by  steamer  to  San  Francisco.  He 
showed  us  his  account  sales  :  Net  proceeds  of  three  hundred 
sheep,  three  dollars  and  thirty  cents — a  little  more  than  one  cent 
each.  We  passed  through  a  ranche  belonging  to  Mr.  Pierce, 
eighteen  miles  long  and  eight  miles  wide.  Generally  there  is  at 
this  season  more  than  a  foot  of  grass  over  it  all,  and  it  is  well 
stocked  with  cattle  and  sheep.  This  year  he  could  not  cut  a  ton 
of  hay  on  the  whole  of  it.  A  few  of  his  animals  had  been 
driven  off,  while  most  of  them  had  been  lost. 

By  the  side  of  the  road  the  land-  is  portioned  out  in  these 
enormous  estates,  there  being  very  few  small  proprietors.  One 
only  remains  in  the  hands  of  the  Old  Catholic  Missions,  and  that 
is  managed  in  the  interest  of  the  "  Sisters  of  Our  Lady  of  Gau- 
dalupe,"  who  devote  its  proceeds  to  educating  children  of  the 
poor. 

We  reached  Bell's  ranche  for  dinner  after  a  drive  of  sixty 
miles,  not  having  met  a  single  human  being  on  the  road.  The 
ground  squirrels  might  have  been  counted  by  thousands.  They 
are  the  only  animals  that  get  a  decent  subsistence,  as  the  acorns 
were  as  abundant  as  ever.  Several  deer  ran  across  our  track, 
and  quails  trotted  along  as  familiarly  as  chickens,  all  seeming 
to  be  tamed  by  hunger. 

Approaching  Gaudelupe,  near  the  sea,  the  country  was 
fenced  in  more  for  cultivation,  but  this,  like  the  pasturage, 
was  a  failure.  A  few  farmers  had  succeeded  in  raising  a 
scanty  crop  of  corn,  but  a  new  plague  had  come  to  ruin  them. 
For  three  days  the  sand  from  the  shore  had  been  blown 
over  the  fields  by  a  heavy  gale,  completely  covering  the 
crops.     It  was  still  blowing,  and  sadly  incommoded  travellers. 


83  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

It  blew  into  our  eyes  and  nostrils  so  that  we  could  hardly  see 
or  breathe.  It  rolled  up  in  large  drifts  like  snow,  frequently 
bringing  the  coach  to  a  standstill  and  obliging  all  the  passengers 
to  descend  and  wade  behind.  This  disagreeable  visitation  of 
nature  detained  us  two  hours,  so  that  we  arrived  at  San 
Luis  Obispo  only  at  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  after  making 
one  hundred  and  fifteen  miles  steady  travel  in  twenty-one  hours. 

San  Luis  Obispo  has  recently  been  connected  with  the 
shore  by  a  narrow-gauge  railroad  to  Port  Hartford  through 
a  canon  nine  miles  long,  and  thus  becomes  another  claimant  for 
future  supremacy  as  a  commercial  mart. 

Our  opportunities  for  investigation  were  limited,  as  after 
a  rest  of  only  five  hours  we  were  called  to  breakfast  and 
to  resume  our  places  on  the  coach.  We  went  through  an 
experience  like  to  that  of  the  previous  morning  on  leaving 
Santa  Barbara.  The  ascent,  however,  was  not  so  long  or  so 
steep,  and  the  clear  weather  made  it  enjoyable,  affording  a 
magnificent  view  of  the  valley  and  the  western  slope.  We 
reached  the  highest  level  in  two  hours  and  rapidly  descended 
into  another  immense  park  of  live  oaks.  Winding  through 
this  beautiful  grove  for  twenty  miles  after  reaching  the  plateau, 
we  came  to  Paso  de  Robles,  one  of  the  best-known  watering- 
places  of  California. 

The  law  of  compensation  holds  good  for  the  Californian 
throughout.  His  winters  of  rain  are  succeeded  by  cloudless 
summers  ;  his  occasional  short  crops  are  followed  by  years  of 
abundant  harvests,  and  after  the  depression  of  his  mining  stocks 
there  is  a  rebound  to  a  "  booming  market."  Almost  the  only 
local  disease  to  which  he  is  subject  is  rheumatism.  It  requires 
but  little  medical  knowledge  to  understand  how  a  climate 
unfavorable   to  free    action    of   the   skin   should    tend   to    this 


THE  UPS  AND  DOWNS  OF  TRAVEL,  ETC.  89 

distressing  malady.  It  certainly  prevails  to  an  extent  unknown 
in  the  Eastern  States,  and  persons  affected  by  it  there  should 
not  attempt  to  better  their  condition  by  coming  here.  But 
nature  has  furnished  an  offset  to  this  misery  of  her  favorite 
children  in  an  abundance  of  mineral  springs,  most  of  which 
are  especially  adapted  to  the  prevailing  disease.  Nobody  has 
dyspepsia.  If  it  is  brought  here  it  is  cured  by  the  air.  There- 
fore chalybeate  waters  are  not  required,  while  sulphur  springs 
are  found  in  all  parts  of  the  State. 

Notwithstanding  its  difficulty  of  access,  this  hot  spring  of 
Paso  de  Robles  is  one  of  the  most  renowned  and  greatly 
frequented.  We  reached  the  place  by  a  stage  journey  of  one 
hundred  and  forty-two  miles  from  Santa  Barbara,  and  one  may 
come  by  a  direct  line  of  railroad  and  eighty  miles  of  coaching 
from  San  Francisco  ;  but  the  readiest  approach  is  by  steamer  to 
San  Luis  Obispo,  thence  over  the  mountain  by  a  romantic 
road  twenty-seven  miles  long.  Its  situation  is  indicated  by  its 
name,  the  "  Pass  of  the  Oaks,"  where  the  vast  park  is  narrowed 
between  the  ridges  of  mountains  on  both  sides,  and  the  scattered 
live-oaks  have  drawn  together  in  a  grove  of  evergreen  arbors. 
Do  not  understand  by  the  word  "  grove  "  a  few  trees  in  a  clump  ; 
there  are  thousands  within  sight  under  whose  branches  we  may 
walk  for  miles.  Among  them  is  the  hotel  with  its  surrounding 
cottages.  When  we  reflect  that  everything  in  the  way  of  materials 
and  furniture  was  dragged  over  the  mountains  for  so  many 
miles,  we  cannot  withhold  our  admiration  of  the  energy  that  has 
accomplished  so  much.  The  hotel  would  not  be  discreditable  to 
Saratoga,  and  the  cottages  are  pretty  little  boxes  scattered 
about  the  grounds  under  the  oaks,  most  of  them  with  a  parlor 
and  two  bedrooms  to  accommodate  individuals  or  families. 
Near   by   is   one   of   larger   dimensions   elaborately  furnished, 


oo  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

built  by  the  late  William  C.  Ralston,  for  his  own  use,  but  never 
occupied,  as  it  was  hardly  finished  at  his  untimely  death.  It 
is  now  leased  by  the  proprietors  of  the  hotel,  who  have  estab- 
lished a  novelty  in  hotel  life.  They  have  a  first  and  second 
class  price  for  rooms  and  table,  the  former  paying  eighteen 
and  the  latter  twelve  dollars  per  week.  Thus  the  facilities 
of  bathing  are  offered  to  many  who  cannot  meet  the  higher 
charges.  Another  novelty  is  that  the  baths  are  free.  This 
boon  may  be  readily  afforded,  as  Nature  kindly  aids  in  the 
act  of  benevolence  by  furnishing  subterranean  fuel  for  heating 
the  water.  The  temperature  of  the  great  springs,  gushing  out 
from  a  fountain  twelve  feet  square,  is  from  105  to  no  degrees 
Fahrenheit. 

Among  my  readers  there  may  be*  chemists,  physicians,  inva- 
lids and  hypochondriacs.  As  all  who  compose  these  various 
classes  are  supposed  to  be  interested  in  this  most  celebrated 
of  the  California  springs,  I  give  the  analysis,  one  in  many  respects 
indicating  the  general  character  of  mineral  waters  in  this  region. 

Main  Hot  Sulphur  Spring.    (Temperature  no°  F.) 

One  imperial  gallon  contains — 

Sulphureted  hydrogen  gas 4.55 

Free  carbonic  acid  gas 10.50 

Sulphate  of  lime 3. 21 

Sulphate  of  potassa 88 

Sulphate  of  soda  (Glauber's  salts)   7.85 

Peroxide  of  iron 36 

Alumina .22 

Silica 44 

Bi-carbonate  of  magnesia 92 

Bi-carbonate  of  soda 50.74 

Chloride  of  sodium  (common  salt) 27.18 

Iodide  and  bromides,  traces  only. 

Organic  matter 1.64 

Total  solid  contents  per  gabon 93-44 


THE  UPS  AND  DOWNS  OF  TRAVEL,  ETC.  91 

All  mineral  springs  have  histories.  If  they  have  none  that 
are  authentic  they  have  some  invented  for  them.  Carlsbad  in 
Bohemia  owes  its  importance  to  the  cure  of  a  sick  hound 
belonging  to  the  Emperor  Charlemagne,  followed  by  the  cure  of 
the  dog's  master.  Kissingen,  Baden  Baden,  Vichy,  Aix  en 
Savoie  and  all  the  rest,  according  to  the  guide-books,  "  date 
from  a  high  antiquity,"  and  so  this  hot  spring  of  Paso  de 
Robles,  most  like  that  of  Aix  in  its  taste  and  temperature,  "  was 
used  and  highly  valued  by  the  old  mission  priests  eighty  years 
ago,  and  before  that  much  frequented  by  the  Indians,"  according 
to  the  information  that  accompanies  our  bill  of  fare. 

I  do  not  doubt  that  in  many  cases  the  waters  are  efficacious, 
nor  that  in  others  they  injure  by  injudicious  use.  One  of  the 
chief  adjuncts  of  European  spas  is  lacking  here,  and  the  want 
is  a  common  one  at  American  bathing  resorts,  namely,  proper 
medical  advice.  The  reverse  may  be  carried  to  an  absurd  extent, 
as  in  Germany,  where  a  whole  town  of  five  or  ten  thousand  in 
habitants  is  absolutely  under  the  control  of  a  board  of  physicians 
who  dictate  the  diet  of  the  hotels  and  restaurants,  stand  by  the 
"  quellen  "  to  see  that  their  patients  do  not  drink  one  gill  too  much 
or  too  little  of  the  water,  and  prescribe  baths  of  an  exact  degree 
of  heat.  But  this  extreme  is  safer  than  the  practice  prevailing 
here  of  placing  no  restrictions  on  the  quantity  of  water  taken 
or  the  heat  and  duration  of  baths.  Everyman  is  "a  law  unto 
himself,"  rivalling  every  other  man  in  his  ability  to  soak  and  to 
be  soaked.  Time  being  always  money,  rheumatism  is  not  sup- 
posed to  wait  for  it,  but  its  ejection  from  the  citadel  is  carried 
on  so  vigorously  that  the  citadel  is  more  likely  than  its  tenant  to 
succumb. 

We  have  here  a  reproduction  of  a  monstrous  German  ab- 
surdity, the  mud  bath.     At  best  it  is  a  filthy  invention,  but  at 


r,2  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

Franzcnbad,  where  we  first  saw  it,  the  nastiness  of  the  thing 
was  somewhat  qualified.  For  each  patient  fresh  mud  was 
shovelled  into  a  tub,  so  that  he  might  be  sure  that  the  dirt  in 
which  he  chose  to  wallow  was  that  of  the  earth  alone.  Do 
you  know  the  philosophy  of  the  mud  bath  ?  I  never  understood 
it  until  the  information  was  imparted  by  a  Franzenbad  doctor. 
"  How  does  it  cure  ?  "  I  asked.  "  Veil,  you  see,"  he  replied, 
"  dere  is  seven  million  littel  pooahs  in  the  hooman  shkin.  De 
mineral  of  the  mood  goes  into  dem,  and  de  disease  comes  out." 
"  But  how  is  that? "  I  ventured  to  observe.  "If  the  mineral 
goes  into  the  pores  and  the  disease  comes  out,  one  would  think 
they  would  meet  half  way  in  the  cuticle."  "  Oh,  you  don't 
understand,"  answered  the  doctor  after  a  little  deliberation  as  to 
how  this  natural  objection  should  be  met.  "  Don't  you  notify 
yourself  that  half  of  seven  million  is  three  million  five  hoonderd 
towsand  ?  In  one  tree  million  five  hoonderd  towsand  dere  is 
room  for  de  mineral  to  get  in,  and  in  de  oder  dere  is  room  for 
de  disease  to  get  out !  "  Now  that  is  an  explanation  of  the 
modus  operandi  of  the  mud  bath  as  clear  as  the  mud  itself.  So 
much  for  the  European  "  mood  bad "  as  practised  with  a 
decency  superior  to  the  habits  of  pigs. 

The  mud  bath  of  Paso  de  Robles  is  a  sulphur  spring  not 
unlike  the  one  used  for  general  bathing  and  drinking  pur- 
poses. Into  this  a  sufficiency  of  dirt  is  thrown,  and  renewed 
once  every  week  to  make  a  hot  mush.  Will  it  be  credited  ? 
There  are  "ladies'  days"  and  "gentlemen's  days"  alternating, 
when  a  dozen  or  twenty  people  at  a  time  go  down  to  the  hole 
and  plant  themselves  up  to  their  chins  in  this  horrid  mixture, 
simultaneously  expelling  and  absorbing  disease  through  their 
seven  million  pores  ! 

Notwithstanding  all,  cures  are  effected  at  Paso  de  Robles 


THE  UPS  AND  DOWNS  OF  TRAVEL,  ETC.  93 

in  spite  of  carelessness  in  water-drinking  and  bathing,  and 
the  detestable  mud  baths.  The  pure  air,  delightful  scenery, 
freedom  from  care,  horseback  exercise  and  good  table  more 
than  counterbalance  these  pernicious  practices.  Here  we  passed 
several  days  in  the  most  independent  style  of  hotel  life,  with  a 
lovely  little  cottage  for  our  "  own  hired  house,"  opening  its  doors 
and  windows  for  the  refreshing  air  of  the  night,  and  by  day 
recubans  sub  tegmine  "  querci"  more  widespreading,  green  and 
impervious  to  the  rays  of  the  sun  than  the  beech  tree  of  the 
original  text. 


94 


THE  ROUND  TRIP. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

End  of  the  Stage-coach  Romance — The  Boundary  of 
Southern  California — Mexican  Grants — Approach  to 
Santa  Cruz — Its  Early  History — Its  Attractions. 

The  romance  of  the  stage-coach  was  by  this  time  nearly  dis- 
pelled. We  looked  forward  with  modified  enthusiasm  to  eighty 
miles  of  travel  on  one  of  the  hottest  days  of  this  "  exceptional  " 
season  to  bring  us  to  a  railroad  station.  During  this  toil  of 
pleasure,  however,  we  reflected  that  others  suffered  more,  and 
pitied  poor  Colonel  Kane,  who  is  obliged,  by  the  force  of  cir- 
cumstances of  his  own  making,  to  "  coach  it "  day  after  day 
over  the  same  road,  which  time  and  habit  must  have  made 
uninteresting.  At  all  events,  the  charm  of  novelty  was  not 
exhausted,  while  the  Colonel  must  sometimes  feel  like  his 
brother  whip  of  the  White  Mountains,  whose  stolidity  was 
the  wonder  of  the  fashionable  young  ladies  on  his  box.  "  How 
can  you  drive  along  as  you  do,"  they  exclaimed,  "  without  being 
enraptured  with  the  beauties  of  nature  on  every  hand?"  "Well, 
I'm  kind  of  used  to  it,"  he  replied.  "I  wish  I  could  see  some- 
thing new,  and  then  like  enough  I'd  gawk  'round  same  as  you 
do  now." 

There  had  come  to  be  a  weariness  in  this  everlasting  park 


END  OF  THE  STAGE-COACH  ROMANCE.  95 

of  live-oaks  ;  the  ascent  and  descent  of  the  mountains  from 
repetition  had  grown  tame.  Rolling  over  the  foot-hills  we 
came  to  dine  at  Pleito,  a  small  relay  station  on  the  fifteen- 
thousand-acre  ranch  of  Mr.  Pimberton,  an  English  gentleman, 
whose  mansion,  built  in  old  country  style,  gives  the  wild  park 
of  nature  a  striking  likeness  to  the  ornamented  landscapes 
of  Britain.  Only  two  or  three  thousand  acres  were  cultivated, 
and  fortunately,  as  the  land  is  low,  the  crops  of  barley  were  not 
a  total  loss.  No  grain  was  saved  this  year,  all  of  it  having  been 
cut  for  hay  to  feed  the  starving  cattle. 

In  the  evening  we  reached  the  small  village  of  Soledad,  pass- 
ing the  night  at  an  adobe  inn,  thankful  that  our  drive  of  two 
hundred  and  sixty  miles  was  at  last  accomplished,  resolving  to 
recommend  others  to  go  over  the  same  route,  but  to  take  it  in 
smaller  instalments. 

A  branch  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  begins  at  Soledad 
and  runs  through  the  Salinas  Valley  for  its  especial  benefit  in 
carrying  its  grain  to  San  Francisco.  Uusually  this  product  is 
abundant  beyond  the  demand  for  domestic  use.  "  Last  year," 
said  the  conductor,  "  we  hauled  more  than  forty  thousand  tons 
of  barley  ;  this  year  not  a  single  bushel."  This  was  one  of  the 
many  tales  of  the  famine. 

Following  the  bed  of  the  Salinas  Paver,  we  crossed  it  where 
it  is  usuaily  passed  by  a  ferry.  Now,  there  was  only  a  tiny 
stream  three  or  four  yards  in  width  and  a  foot  in  depth. 
But  drawing  toward  its  point  of  discharge  into  the  Bay  of  Mon- 
terey, the  moisture  of  the  sea  air  began  to  affect  vegetation, 
and  by  the  time  the  station  of  Pajaro,  beyond  Salinas,  was 
reached,  we  were  in  a  land  of  comparative  plenty,  leaving  behind 
the  saddest  reminiscences  of  an  otherwise  pleasant  journey 
through    Southern   California.     That   district  terminates  about 


96  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

here,  and  with  it  the  desolation  of  its  generally  fruitful  fields. 
This  is  the  dividing  line  of  Southern  California  in  distinction 
from  the  more  northern  part  of  the  State.  The  term  should 
not  be  confounded  with  "Lower"  California,  the  country  bounded 
on  the  north  by  San  Diego,  and  still  under  Mexican  rule.  The 
annexation  of  that  territory  to  the  Union  is  not  far  distant,  and 
is  already  contemplated  by  land  speculators. 

On  the  passage  from  Panama  the  steamer  landed  a  large 
party  of  Mexicanized  Americans  at  Cape  St.  Lucas,  whose 
avowed  object  it  was  to  survey  the  most  valuable  lands  of  Lower 
California,  and  obtain  grants  from  the  government  of  Mexico, 
which,  in  its  present  condition  of  poverty,  and  with  its  uncertain 
future,  is  ready  to  sell  them  for  trifling  amounts.  After  buying 
up  the  whole  peninsula  for  a  few  thousand  dollars,  these  enter- 
prising gentlemen  propose  to  colonize  it  at  once,  and,  waiting 
their  opportunity  to  join  some  revolutionary  faction,  obtain  inde- 
pendence in  that  way.  After  this,  admission  to  the  Union  will 
not  be  difficult,  and  the  land-jobbing  operation  will  in  the  end 
prove  a  certain  success.  It  will  merely  be  a  speculation  somewhat 
more  extensive  than  those  commonly  undertaken  throughout  the 
State  by  gentlemen  who  are  content  to  "grab  "  only  one  or  two 
hundred  thousand  acres.  "  Grabbing"  is  a  common  practice,  as 
may  be  inferred  from  frequent  notices  of  the  ranches  and  the 
rancheros.  When  men  of  large  capital  take  advantage  of  the 
"  desert  land  "  law,  and  avail  themselves  of  land  otherwise  un- 
productive for  the  purpose  of  extensive  irrigation,  they  are  the 
benefactors  of  the  community.  But  when,  as  too  often  is  the 
case,  they  keep  the  Mexican  grants  which  they  have  purchased 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  pasturage,  where  the  land  is  adapted  to 
grain  and  fruit,  they  can  be  regarded  only  as  opposed  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  State.     The  surest  method  of  bringing  them  to 


END  OF  THE  STAGE-COACH  ROMANCE.  97 

the  adoption  of  a  liberal  policy,  is  to  force  them  to  it  by  taxing 
arable  and  grazing  land  at  the  same  valuation. 

The  wretched  little  village  called  Pajaro,  where  the  narrow- 
gauge  road  to  Santa  Cruz  connects  with  the  main  line,  is  re- 
markable for  nothing  except  the  number  of  its  grog  shops  and 
the  grasping  disposition  of  the  landlord  of  a  very  bad  inn.  After 
waiting  two  hours  at  this  miserable  den  we  were  transferred  to 
the  Santa  Cruz  train.  The  narrow-gauge  road,  twenty-two  miles 
long,  was  built  by  a  few  enterprising  gentlemen  with  a  view  of 
benefiting  their  large  landed  interests,  while  it  gives  to  Santa 
Cruz  a  circuitous  communication  with  the  capital.  When  the 
more  direct  line  now  coming  from  San  Jose'  is  completed,  the 
value  of  the  present  road  will  be  greatly  lessened  ;  but  tourists 
and  pleasure  seekers  will  always  enjoy  the  wonderfully  pictur- 
esque scenery  along  its  track.  Climbing  a  grade  one  hundred 
and  thirty-six  feet  to  the  mile,  spanning  ravines  on  trestle-work 
ninety-five  feet  in  height,  twisting  through  canons  of  enormous 
redwoods,  turning  precipices  that  overhang  the  sea,  it  winds 
along  the  northern  side  of  the  Bay  of  Monterey,  affording  a 
grand  and  comprehensive  view.  The  engineer  who  planned  it 
must  have  been  a  poet.  Mr.  Aptos  is  one  of  its  owners,  and  he 
has  perpetuated  his  name  by  christening  a  charmingly  romantic 
glen,  where  he  has  built  a  large  and  costly  hotel.  This  house  stands 
in  a  grove  of  tall  redwoods,  almost  rivalling  those  of  Mariposa  in 
size,  and  before  it  the  ocean  rolls  in,  dashing  spray  nearly  to  its 
doors.  Other  stations  like  this  are  situated  at  points  selected 
by  a  judicious  and  refined  taste,  making  the  route  to  Santa  Cruz 
as  inviting  as  the  city  itself  is  attractive. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Willey,  one  of  the  Protestant  pioneers  of  1849, 
and  Father  Adam,  who  occupies  the  old  mission  established  by 
his  predecessors  in  1791,  have  been   indefatigable  in   searching 

7 


98  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

the  ancient  monastic  records  bearing  upon  the  discovery  and 
settlement  of  Santa  Cruz.  From  them  we  learn  that  this  part 
of  the  coast  was  known  to  the  Spaniards  as  early  as  the  year 
1602,  when  Viscayno  landed  on  the  site  of  the  present  town  and 
gave  a  glowing  description  of  the  Bay  of  Monterey,  on  which  it 
stands,  and  of  the  surrounding  country.  In  those  days  the 
world  was  too  large,  and  there  were  not  enough  people  to  make 
available  all  the  discoveries  rapidly  following  the  advent  of  Co- 
lumbus. So  this  region  remained  neglected  until  two  centuries 
had  elapsed.  Then  the  missionaries,  who  had  landed  at  San 
Diego  in  1769,  followed  up  their  adventures  along  the  coast,  es- 
tablishing themselves  here  in  1791. 

Fathers  Salagar  and  Lopez  arrived  on  the  25th  day  of  Sep 
tember  in  that  year.  Practical  old  fathers  were  they.  The  rec 
ord  which  Father  Adam  produces  says  nothing  of  the  tracts  they 
brought  for  distribution,  but  it  enumerates  thirty  cows,  ten  yoke 
of  oxen,  fourteen  bulls,  twenty  steers,  nine  horses  and  seven 
mules.  That  was  a  missionary  outfit  in  1791.  "And  so  they 
begin  their  work  ;  they  teach  such  Indians  as  they  can  collect 
how  to  make  adobes,  and,  as  fast  as  they  can,  the  arts  of  civilized 
life.  They  teach  the  men  the  use  of  tools,  and  they  teach  the 
women  to  weave."  In  three  years  the  large  church  was  built, 
its  ruins  only  now  standing,  not  long  ago  shattered  by  an 
earthquake.  Vineyards  were  planted,  cattle  increased  on  the 
ranges,  and  Santa  Cruz  lived  and  thrived  as  a  Spanish  set- 
tlement, although  its  population  did  not  become  large  until  its 
occupancy  by  our  countrymen  at  the  close  of  the  Mexican  war. 
Then  occurred  that  rapid  change  we  have  noted  in  all  the  old 
pueblos  of  California.  The  Anglo-Saxon  race  poured  in  with 
its  industries,  enterprise  and  taste,  and  the  people's  wealth  in- 
creased, until  Santa  Cruz,  the  mission  station  selected  first  for 


END  OF  THE  STAGE-COACH  ROMANCE.  09 

natural  beauties,  has  become  a  city  of  six  thousand  permanent 
inhabitants,  and  the  favorite  resort  of  sojourners  from  all  parts 
of  the  country.  It  is  but  a  few  hours  distant  by  steam  from  San 
Francisco,  and  as  the  time  will  soon  be  less  by  rail,  its  rapid  in- 
crease and  prosperity  are  assured. 

Nature  has  scooped  out  with  dainty  hand  a  charming  valley,  in 
which  is  nestled  this  pretty  little  city,  sheltered  from  the  rough 
touch  of  the  sea  breeze  that  blows  over  the  ridge  and  tempers  the 
air  with  the  breath  of  healthful  elasticity.  The  range  of  the 
thermometer  for  the  year  is  remarkably  equal.  There  are  no 
extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  the  humidity  is  sufficient  to  keep  vege- 
tation green  without  having  an  injurious  effect  upon  health,  and  it 
is  not  surprising  that  so  many  invalids,  to  whom  a  modified  sea  air 
is  agreeable,  have  made  it  their  home.  The  citizens  are  not 
niggardly  of  their  land.  Here  and  there  in  the  main  street  is  a 
block  of  stores  and  warehouses,  but  the  dwellings  are  detached. 
Doubtless  the  inhabitants  are  fond  of  society,  for  picnics  and 
excursions  to  the  glens,  the  wooded  hills  and  the  shore  seem  to 
be  their  chief  occupation.  But  they  are  still  more  fond  of  the  com- 
panionship of  the  trees,  the  flowers  and  the  vines  that  surround 
every  house.  Their  gardens  are  their  homes,  of  which  the  cot- 
tages form  the  smallest  part.  No  man  seems  to  have  been  al- 
lowed to  build  his  house  or  to  lay  out  his  grounds  in  any  way 
that  does  not  produce  a  pleasing  effect. 

With  all  their  temptations  to  pleasure  and  indolence,  the  pic- 
nics, the  riding  and  the  bathing,  in  which  so  many  persons  ap- 
pear to  be  occupied,  there  is  no  want  of  energy  and  attention  to 
business.  Santa  Cruz  is  a  town  of  many  industries.  The  pow- 
der works  are  very  extensive.  Obtaining  saltpetre  at  a  cheap 
rate  of  freight  from  the  west  coast  of  South  America,  they 
manufacture  this  article  at  a  large  profit.     Last  year  its  sales 


*oo  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

amounted  to  nearly  half  a  million  dollars.  The  dairies  are 
their  pride,  for  they  send  one  hundred  thousand  dollars'  worth 
of  butter  annually  to  San  Francisco.  They  export  a  great 
deal  of  lime.  The  back  hills  being  heavily  timbered  with 
redwood,  great  quantities  are  reduced  to  lumber,  not  only  for 
home  use,  but  to  ship  to  other  places  on  the  coast.  The  grape 
is  in  high  cultivation,  and  excellent  wine  is  made  in  large 
quantities.  Mr.  Jarvis,  one  of  the  principal  growers,  took  us 
through  his  establishment  and  offered — please  let  it  be  under- 
stood, at  various  times — glasses  of  his  port,  sherry,  muscatel, 
angelica,  hock  and  brandy.  His  wines  readily  command  from 
one  dollar  to  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  gallon,  and  his  brandy 
three  dollars  and  fifty  cents.  One  of  his  vineyards  covers  sev- 
enty-five acres,  and  produces  three  hundred  tons  of  grapes.  Ex- 
tensive as  is  the  wine  product  of  California,  Mr.  Jarvis  thinks  it 
is  only  in  its  infancy.  He  has  a  correct  view  of  its  development 
when  he  says  that  everybody  is  in  too  much  haste.  He  has  been 
for  years  engaged  in  reaching  after  perfection,  and  has  not  yet 
arrived  at  it.  "  Every  man  should  plant  for  his  own  children," 
he  observed,  with  more  wisdom  and  regard  for  posterity  than  is 
often  displayed  in  this  selfish  age.  "  If  we  all  do  that,  in  the 
next  generation  California  will  be  the  vineyard  of  the  world." 

A  short  narrow-gauge  railroad  has  been  recently  built,  chiefly 
for  the  purpose  of  bringing  lumber  down  from  the  forests,  while 
it  serves  admirably  for  purposes  of  recreation.  It  is  only  eight 
miles  long,  but  they  are  such  eight  miles  as  are  rarely  travelled. 
In  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  we  began  mounting  a  grade 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  feet  to  the  mile,  through  a 
dense  forest  of  redwood.  We  arrived  at  the  station  of  the 
"  Big  Trees,"  where  was  a  forest  compared  with  which  the 
pines  of  the  eastern  mountains  are  dwarfs.     Leaving  the  train 


END  OF  THE  STAGE-COACH  ROMANCE.  IOi 

and  walking  under  their  shade  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  we 
came  to  the  veritable  giants  of  the  forest.  The  great  sequoias 
of  Mariposa  are  indeed  somewhat  larger  than  these,  but  it  is  a 
long  distance  to  them  ;  and  if  seeing  big  t-r'ees  be  the :ovnly object 
of  one's  search,  it  maybe  fairly  counted  that  the  difference  in  size 
is  not  enough  to  counterbalance  the  length  of  the  journey.  Or- 
dinary sight-seeing  can  be  more  easily  gratified  by  coming  to 
Santa  Cruz  and  making  the  trip  on  this  little  railroad. 

Is  it  not  enough  to  look  upon  these  slightly  inferior  giants, 
one  of  which  is  two  hundred  and  seventy-eight  feet  high,  sixty 
feet  in  circumference,  and  hollowed  out  at  the  base  and  occupied 
as  a  house,  with  dimensions  of  sixteen  feet  by  twenty  ?  This 
is  the  largest  of  them,  although  there  are  many  not  much 
smaller.  To  a  casual  observer  the  difference  between  these  trees 
and  those  of  Mariposa  and  Calaveras  is  not  apparent ;  but  it  is 
asserted  that  the  latter  are  the  true  sequoia,  and  these  a  dif- 
ferent variety  of  redwood.  The  trees  here  are  shorter  lived  ; 
one  of  them,  on  being  cut  down,  showed  by  its  rings  that  it  had 
flourished  only  two  thousand  eight  hundred  years,  while  an 
ancient  rival  in  Calaveras  scored  three  thousand  two  hundred 
and  fifty-two  years,  during  which  it  had  grown  to  the  height 
of  two  hundred  and  ninety-six  feet.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
public  spirit  of  Santa  Cruz  will  keep  this  noble  forest  intact  and 
secure  from  the  ruthless  woodman's  axe  until  it  has  time  to  attain 
to  the  size  and  age  of  its  competitors. 


I02  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

From  Santa  Cruz  to  San  Jose — The  Garden  of  Santa 
Clara  Valley — The  Towns  of  San  Jose  and  Santa 
Clara  —  Another  Mission  —  The  Church  and  the 
Grape-Wine  and  Brandy — The  Enterprise  of  Gen- 
eral Naglee. 

We  left  Santa  Cruz  on  a  hot  summer  morning  in  an  open 
wagon,  uncomfortable  from  the  heat  and  the  dust  while  toiling 
slowly  up  the  mountain.  That  is  now  forgotten  ;  but  we  shall 
never  forget  the  view  from  the  summit,  which  on  one  side  com- 
manded the  ocean,  and  on  the  other  the  lovely  Santa  Clara  Valley 
— a  fruit  garden,  and,  as  its  people  boast,  the  most  beautiful 
one  of  California.  There  it  lay  before  us,  a  garden  of  one  and 
a  quarter  million  acres,  fifty-two  miles  long,  thirty-four  miles 
wide,  variegated  with  grass-covered  undulating  hills,  orchards, 
vineyards  and  yellow  fields  of  grain,  spotted  all  over  with  the 
ever-present  great  live-oaks  that,  from  this  height,  seemed  like 
little  green  bushes  no  higher  than  the  heads  of  wheat  among 
which  they  were  scattered.  The  noble  six-horse  team  had 
brought  the  last  strain  upon  their  muscles  to  reach  the  summit, 
and  then,  obedient  to  the  crack  of  the  whip  in  the  hands  of  a 


FROM  SANTA  CRUZ  TO  SAN  JOSE.  103 

skilful  driver,  darted  down  the  mountain,  whirling  round  steep 
corners  and  flying  through  a  cloud  of  dust  as  if  they  enjoyed 
the  sport  and  were  laughing  inside  their  blinders  at  the  ter- 
rified passengers  behind  them.  The  cultivated  plains  were  soon 
reached,  and  long  avenues  of  trees  lined  the  way  to  the  capital 
of  the  county,  the  first  capital  of  the  State  before  San  Francisco 
robbed  it  of  its  rank.  San  Jose  has  lost  its  political  importance, 
but  the  refinement  and  easy  luxury  for  which  its  people  are  con- 
spicuous amply  compensate  for  the  loss  of  a  noisy  rabble  of 
office-hunting  demagogues  ;  and  its  nearness  to  the  great  com- 
mercial centre  has  given  it  many  advantages  beside  those  of  its 
natural  opportunities. 

The  towns  of  San  Jose  and  Santa  Clara  may  be  considered 
as  one.  They  are  connected  by  a  long  avenue  of  willows, 
planted  by  the  missionary  settlers  in  1799.  This  wide  street  of 
three  miles,  called  the  Alameda,  is  shaded  by  triple  rows  of 
willow,  poplar,  and  eucalyptus  trees,  whose  variety  of  foliage 
has  a  most  pleasing  effect.  The  houses,  with  a  good  taste 
that  is  very  general,  are  at  a  little  distance  from  the  road 
and  partly  concealed  from  it  by  a  perennial  shrubbery.  It 
presents  a  gay  scene  in  the  afternoon,  when  ladies  and  gentle- 
men gallop  at  full  speed  with  a  display  of  daring  horsemanship 
that  excites  our  admiration. 

San  Jose,  and  its  suburb  Santa  Clara,  embracing  each  other 
as  they  meet  under  their  Alameda,  have  twenty  thousand  inhabi- 
tants, and  those  of  the  whole  valley  number  somewhat  more  than 
thirty  thousand.  The  lazy  Mexicans,  sparsely  scattered  over  it 
previous  to  the  American  occupation  of  1849,  devoted  no  atten- 
tion to  its  cultivation,  hardly  raising  an  acre  of  wheat,  and  al 
lowing  the  whole  of  its  area  to  be  grown  over  with  wild  grass 
for  the  pasturage  of  their  cattle. 


104  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

The  wants  of  those  people  are  few.  Wherevei  the  Spanish 
ranchero  is  to  be  found,  he  avoids,  as  much  as  possible,  the 
contact  of.  what  we  deem  civilization.  He  cares  not  for  books, 
for  society,  or  even  for  fruits  or  bread,  his  body  being  as 
insufficiently  nourished  as  his  mind.  He  never  plants  a 
shade  tree,  and  if  one  happens  to  grow  near  to  his  adobe 
house  he  cuts  it  down  as  the  easiest  attainable  fuel.  Came 
seca,  his  dried  meat,  which  he  prefers  to  fresh  beef,  and  black 
beans,  the  only  vegetable  he  plants,  compose  his  whole  diet. 
With  this  food,  little  clothing,  a  good  saddle  and  a  good  horse, 
his  existence  is  complete  and  all  his  wants  are  satisfied.  The 
old  Catholic  padres  succeeded  in  domesticating  and  converting 
the  Indians,  but  their  influence  upon  these  greasers  was  of  little 
account.  The  missionaries  alone  gave  their  attention  to  build- 
ing, manufactures,  farming  and  vineyards,  invariably  selecting 
such  favored  spots  as  the  Santa  Clara  Valley  for  the  scenes  of 
their  operations.  When  Vancouver  landed  at  San  Francisco, 
in  1792,  and  made  an  excursion  into  this  part  of  the  country, 
he  was  astonished  and  delighted  at  the  progress  the  Francis- 
cans had  made.  Their  establishments  were  unfortunately 
secularized  when  Mexico  as  unfortunately  obtained  her  inde- 
pendence, and  no  further  progress  was  made  until  this  ter- 
ritory was  ceded  to  the  United  States.  Then  the  soil  of  the 
valley  was  struck  by  the  wand  of  a  magician.  The  magic  of 
freedom,  intelligence  and  enterprise  gave  it  a  new  life,  and  robed 
it  with  the  beautiful  garments  which  now  cover  the  nakedness  of 
thirty  years  ago. 

Already  the  assessed  value  of  its  real  estate  exceeds  thirty- 
one  million  dollars,  the  farming  land  commanding  the  highest 
prices  on  account  of  its  nearness  to  San  Francisco,  which  is  sup- 
plied with  vegetables  and  fruit. 


FROM  SANTA  CRUZ  TO  SAN  JOSE.  io^ 

We  drove  out  to  the  old  mission,  whose  great  possessions 
have  now  dwindled  down  to  a  parish  church  and  thirty  acres  of 
land.  It  is  under  the  charge  of  Father  Cassidy,  who  received 
us  courteously,  and  entertained  us  with  histories  of  the  olden 
times  when  his  predecessors  flourished  in  their  abundance,  dis- 
pensing unlimited  hospitality  which  he  modestly  emulated  as  he 
offered  us  a  bottle  of  wine  of  his  own  manufacture  from 
the  vines  they  had  planted.  The  good  father,  beside  all  his 
parochial  duties,  attends  personally  to  his  vineyard,  and  it  is  his 
chief  satisfaction  to  furnish  for  the  sacramental  use  of  Catholic 
and  Protestant  alike  the  pure  juice  of  the  grape,  which  he  pro- 
vides at  the  moderate  cost  of  fifty  cents  per  gallon.  It  is  an 
excellent  red  wine,  bearing  transportation,  and  quite  as  good  as 
the  French  claret,  costing  one  dollar  per  bottle.  Father  Cassidy 
says  that  the  old  missionaries  understood  the  true  theory  of 
vine  culture,  and  practised  it  successfully  by  planting  their  vine- 
yards on  side-hills  instead  of  upon  levels — the  latter  mode  now 
commonly  adopted  increasing  the  crop,  but  producing  more 
watery  grapes.  Certainly  this  active  priest  combines  much 
practical  knowledge  with  his  clerical  duties,  entitling  him  to 
respect  in  a  double  sense  as  "  a  laborer  in  the  vineyard." 
The  old  church  and  cloisters  of  the  monastery  were  built  of 
adobe,  and  notwithstanding  the  six  feet  thickness  of  the  walls, 
an  earthquake  had  tumbled  a  part  to  the  ground  and  shaken 
the  whole  pile,  so  that  it  was  riven  by  gaping  seams.  The 
crumbling  nature  of  the  material  and  its  dingy  color,  prematurely 
gave  the  ruins  an  appearance  of  age  equal  to  that  of  stone  after 
the  lapse  of  many  hundred  years.  General  Naglee,  of  San  Jose, 
has  devoted  twenty  years  to  the  selection  and  culture  of  the  most 
desirable  varieties  of  the  French  and  German  wine  grapes,  and 
to  experiments  in  the  manufacture  of  brandy.     His  abundant 


io6  THE  ROUND   TRIP. 

means  enable  him  to  study  the  problem  at  his  leisure,  without 
regard  to  immediate  profits,  for  his  only  desire  is  that  the  com- 
munity shall  benefit  by  his  labor.  His  grounds  are  a  mile 
distant  from  the  centre  of  the  town,  and  he  is  generally  at  home, 
taking  pleasure  in  receiving  his  many  friends,  and  in  explaining 
his  processes  to  those  who  desire  to  be  informed. 

After  driving  over  his  grounds  of  forty  acres,  one-third  of 
them  planted  with  foreign  grapes,  he  introduced  us  to  his  manu- 
facturing establishment,  where  are  tne  presses  and  the  distilling 
apparatus.  Four  immense  vats  were  capable  of  containing 
16,000  gallons  each,  and  nine  others  of  4,000  each,  gave  capacity 
for  100,000  gallons  of  wine,  and  20,000  gallons  of  brandy  vintage. 
General  Naglee  preserves  but  little  wine,  his  chief  object  being 
to  make  the  purest  and  best  brandy  in  the  world  at  whatever  cost 
of  time  and  money.  Very  few  people  know  how  brandy  is  made  ; 
very  few  know  what  brandy  is,  and,  if  truth  were  told,  in  our  day 
there  is  very  little  brandy.  Probably  999  gallons  out  of  every 
1,000  that  are  sold  as  brandy  are  a  vile  compound  of  whiskey, 
distilled  spirits,  and  chemical  abominations.  This  is  equally 
true  of  wines. 

Now,  if  one  thing  is  palpable  without  demonstration,  it  is  that 
the  stomach  craves  stimulants,  and  these  it  will  have  either  of  food 
or  drink.  The  Bengalee  and  the  Malay  fortify  themselves  with 
pepper  and  curry,  the  Dutchman  uses  schnapps  for  the  same 
purpose,  and  the  Scotch  and  Irish  have  a  pure  whiskey  ;  the 
Englishman  has  his  beer  and  porter,  the  Frenchman,  the  Spaniard 
and  the  Italian  their  wine,  the  Chinese  his  tea  and  the  Turk  his 
coffee.  Either  of  these  articles  of  food  and  drink  used  to  excess 
is  as  injurious  as  the  gluttony  of  plum-pudding  or  drinking  too 
much  water.  As  I  never  suffered  from  indulgence  in  any  stim- 
ulant, but  have  acquired  a  life  long  dyspepsia  by  aqueous  in- 


FROM  SANTA  CRUZ  TO  SAN  JOSE.  io"j 

temperance  at  a  hydropathic  establishment,  I  hope  I  shall  not 
be  misunderstood  in  advocating  with  earnestness  the  culture  of 
the  grape,  for  the  benefit  not  only  of  California,  but  of  the  peo- 
ple at  large,  so  that  the  truest  temperance  may  prevail  through 
the  land.  I  would  not  say  any  thing  to  encourage  the  general  use 
of  distilled  liquors  ;  but  no  one  except  a  fanatic  will  deny  that 
they  are  sometimes  necessary,  and  that  they  are  agreeable  luxuries. 
At  any  rate,  the  fact  is  patent  that  they  will  be  drunk,  and  there- 
fore it  is  the  more  desirable  that  a  pure  article  should  take  the 
place  of  the  villanous  compounds  by  which  dram-drinkers  are 
poisoned. 

General  Naglee  justly  esteems  himself  a  philanthropist  in 
devoting  himself  to  this  special  object.  His  brandy  is  of  two 
classes,  the  inferior  made  after  the  process  of  most  European 
manufacture,  which  consists  in  distilling  the  dregs  of  mashed 
grapes  that  have  been  used  for  wine.  This  he  sells  as  fast  as 
it  is  produced.  Fortunately  he  is  a  gentleman  of  great  wealth, 
or  he  could  not  afford  the  costly  experiment  of  producing  brandy 
of  the  higher  grade.  This  is  made  by  using  only  the  finest 
French  and  German  grapes,  and  separating  the  juice  between  the 
pulp  and  the  skin  without  any  pressure  to  bring  out  the  delete- 
rious essential  oils  which  they  contain,  and  thus  the  very  purest 
juice  of  the  grape  is  fermented  and  distilled  into  the  choicest 
liquor.  As  yet  he  has  not  sold  any,  60,000  gallons  being  in 
store,  some  of  it  in  the  cellar  ten  years. 

In  distilling  brandy  from  wine,  the  process  results  in  saving 
only  twenty  gallons  out  of  a  hundred.  When  all  the  vats  are 
filled  with  one  hundred  thousand  gallons,  the  residue  is  conse- 
quently twenty  thousand  gallons  of  pure  spirit.  This  is  stored 
in  immense  casks,  each  labelled  with  revenue  stamps,  certifying 
that  ninety  cents  per  gallon  has  been  paid  to  the  government. 


ioS  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

By  the  exertions  of  the  State  Vinicultural  Society,  the  law  has 
been  so  far  modified  that  no  excise  is  now  paid  on  brandy 
until  it  has  been  made  three  years.  An  important  amount  of 
interest  is  thus  saved.  It  would  be  curious  to  compute,  if  any 
one  cares  to  make  more  figures  than  I  do,  the  cost  of  this  ten 
years'  old  brandy  that  we  tasted,  supposing  that  at  the  outset, 
including  the  tax,  it  cost  the  manufacturer  $3  per  gallon,  and 
that  money  has  commanded  here  all  the  time  the  annual  interest 
of  twelve  per  centum,  with  an  addition  of  twelve  per  cent,  for 
leakage  and  evaporation.  Let  this  be  compounded,  and  the 
conclusion  will  be  reached  that  the  experiment  is  too  expensive 
to  be  productive  of  any  thing  but  self-satisfaction  to  General 
Naglee,  and  of  gratitude  from  those  enjoying  his  hospitality  and 
profiting  by  his  outlay. 

Temperance  people  and  prohibitionists  may  settle  the  wine 
question  among  themselves  as  far  as  it  bears  upon  the  morals 
of  the  community  of  which  they  have  assumed  the  charge. 
There  are,  however,  some  people  who  do  not  choose  to  be 
subject  to  their  dictation.  They  may  be  pleased  to  know 
what  progress  has  been  made  by  California  in  the  production  of 
the  grape. 

From  the  most  trustworthy  sources  at  hand,  it  is  established 
that  in  the  whole  State  not  less  than  50.000  acres  are  planted 
with  vines,  numbering  from  40,600,000  to  45,000,000,  and  aver- 
aging from  700  to  1,000  vines  per  acre.  In  the  southern  and 
interior  counties  the  yield  is  more  plentiful,  each  acre  producing, 
on  the  average,  six  tons  of  grapes,  while  in  the  coast  counties 
four  tons  is  considered  a  fair  crop.  From  one  ton  of  grapes 
130  to  140  gallons  of  wine  are  pressed.  Last  year  8,000,000 
gallons  were  produced,  but  the  vine  capacity  this  year  is  estima- 
ted  at   10,000,000.      Most  of  the  wines  have  heretofore  been 


FROM  SANTA  CRUZ  TO  SAN  JOS&.  I09 

made  from  the  old  "  Mission  grape."  The  exact  history  of  this 
prolific  vine  is  lost  in  the  antiquity  of  one  hundred  years.  This 
only  is  certain,  that  it  was  introduced  by  the  Franciscans  with 
their  religion  as  a  part  of  their  civilization.  It  is  worthy  of  re- 
flection that  religious  teachers  have  been  the  men  to  whom  the 
world  is  most  indebted  for  good  wine,  from  the  "  first  preacher 
of  righteousness,"  down.  It  has  been  remarked,  as  a  matter  of 
history,  reflecting  great  credit  upon  the  Catholic  clergy,  that  they 
first  produced  to  perfection  the  grapes  from  which  are  manufac- 
tured the  wines  of  Johannisberg,  Steinberg,  Hockheim,  Clos-Vou- 
geot,  l'Hospice,  Chambertin,  Chateau  Yquem,  St.  Julien,  and 
various  other  celebrated  brands,  and  that  the  first  champagne 
was  made  by  a  priest. 

We  know  that  the  first  vines  of  California  were  planted  at 
St.  Gabriel  in  1771,  but  it  is  not  settled  if  this  was  done  with 
roots  or  cuttings  imported  from  Spain  or  Mexico.  General 
Vallejo,  who  has  given  no  little  attention  to  the  subject,  says 
that  the  Fathers  first  attempted  to  make  wine  from  the  common 
wild  grape  of  the  country,  but  not  succeeding  in  this,  they  raised 
them  from  the  seeds  of  imported  raisins.  From  these  the  white 
and  blue  varieties  were  both  produced,  but  the  former  was  aban- 
doned, while  the  latter  was  adopted  and  cultivated  at  all 
the  mission  establishments.  Since  the  advent  of  Americans, 
many  other  varieties  have  been  'introduced.  Colonel  Haraszthy, 
who  alone  imported  two  hundred  and  fifty  distinct  varieties, 
gave  them  all  a  fair  trial,  selecting  from  them,  as  adapted  to  va- 
rious parts  of  the  State,  forty  or  fifty  of  the  best.  These  are 
not  all  used  for  wine.  Many  are  especially  devoted  to  brandy, 
table  use  and  raisins.  I  have  no  data  for  these  two  latter  pro- 
ducts, but  it  is  known  that  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  gal- 
lons of  brandy  are  annually  distilled,  large  and  increasing  quan- 


IIO  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

tities  of  raisins  are  cured,  and  beside  the  grapes  eaten  in  the 
State,  many  cars  are  laden  with  them  in  the  season  for  distribu- 
tion from  San  Francisco  to  New  York. 

A  very  intelligent  gentleman  remarked,  to  my  surprise,  that 
as  the  mining  interest  of  California  had  been  superseded  by 
cereals,  so  they  will  before  many  years  be  neglected,  and  the 
specialties  of  the  State  be  fruit  and  wine.  It  is  possible  that  he 
may  be  right,  although  the  day  is  more  distant  than  his  prophecy 
indicated.  For  grain  production,  this  soil  is  inexhaustible,  but 
by  means  of  careless  farming  is  rapidly  impoverished,  while  the  air 
and  sunlight,  which  have  more  to  do  with  the  culture  of  the  vine 
than  the  ground,  have  life-giving  influences  that  can  never  die. 
Let  the  California  farmer  take  warning  from  this  prediction. 
Let  him  do  something  more  for  his  soil  than  to  comb  it.  It 
needs  care  as  his  good  horses  need  grooming,  or  he  will  run  it 
to  death.  He  will  realize  this  one  of  these  days  when  he  calls 
on  Oregon  for  bread. 

San  Francisco  is  reached  in  two  hours  from  San  Jose,  by  the 
railroad  passing  through  the  beautiful  suburbs  of  Menlo  Park, 
Belmont,  and  San  Mateo.  Scattered  over  them  are  the  country 
residences  of  those  who  can  spare  time  from  business  to  enjoy 
the  luxury  of  ease,  and  to  dispense  the  sumptuous  hospitality  for 
which  so  many  of  them  have  a  merited  reputation.  The  environs 
have  been  often  described,  and  are  well  known  to  every  stranger 
who  visits  the  city. 


NOR  THERN  CALIFORNIA.  i  T  i 


CHAPTER   XV. 

Northern  California — Mount  Shasta  in  the  Distance — 
Railroads — Farming  on  a  Large  Scale. 

We  came  north  to  get  a  nearer  view  of  Mount  Shasta  ;  it 
seems  but  ten  miles  distant — a  pyramid  of  snow  from  its  peak 
to  the  pine  trees  that  spread  their  branches  at  its  base.  It 
seems  so  near ;  and  yet  we  might  reflect  that  the  apparent 
base  would  have  a  far  different  color  in  this  temperature  of 
ioo  degrees,  if  it  were  not  merely  a  part  of  the  summit,  for 
Shasta  is  one  hundred  miles  away.  So  clearly  defined  are 
its  lines  in  the  sky,  that  at  Marysville,  ninety  miles  further 
south,  it  is  often  visible  in  a  favorable  atmosphere.  Difficult  as 
the  region  about  Shasta  is  in  its  approaches,  the  romantic 
scenery,  cool  atmosphere,  mineral  springs,  and  hunting  and  fish- 
\ng,  annually  bring  many  visitors  to  Sessions — a  favorite  watering- 
place  of  Californians  who  can  afford  to  leave  their  business  for 
a  long  vacation.  Tourists  unwilling  to  go  away  with  only  the 
satisfaction  to  be  obtained  from  the  charmingly  deceptive  view 
of  Shasta  at  a  distance,  have  only  to  follow  up  the  Oregon  Rail- 
road forty  miles  further  to  Redding,  and  then  take  the  stage- 
coach for  seventy  miles  to  their  destination 


II2  THE  ROUND   TRIP. 

Eastern  people  have  but  a  small  conception  of  the  railroad 
enterprises  of  California.  They  are  content  with  the  knowl- 
edge that  there  is  a  direct  route  from  New  York  to  San  Fran- 
cisco, but  know  little  of  its  connections  with  the  many  domestic 
tenders  from  which  so  much  of  its  trade  is  derived.  The  rail- 
roads stretch  out  their  iron  arms  to  grasp  every  section  of  the 
State. 

The  Northern  Pacific  runs  eighty  miles  along  the  coast  to 
Healdsburg,  on  its  way  to  Oregon.  A  narrow  gauge  is  looking 
in  the  same  direction.  The  California  Pacific  has  reached  Wil- 
liams, one  hundred  and  twenty-one  miles  to  the  north,  and  the 
Oregon  branch,  on  which  we  arrive  at  Red  Bluffs,  distant  two 
hundred  and  seventeen  miles  from  San  Francisco,  goes  on  forty 
miles  further  to  Redding,  and  is  bound  to  extend  beyond  the 
Oregon  line.  All  these  roads  have  lateral  branches.  Wherever 
there  is  a  valley  for  wheat  to  grow  or  a  forest  for  timber  to  be 
felled,  a  train  of  cars  stands  in  waiting  to  bring  produce  and 
lumber  to  market  for  shipping  or  home  consumption. 

We  came  to  Vallejo  in  two  hours  by  steamer,  leaving  San 
Francisco  at  an  early  hour  of  the  morning,  and  passing  the  time 
— which  seemed  only  too  short — in  gazing  at  the  surroundings 
of  the  wonderful  bay,  which  is  equalled  only  by  that  of  Rio  de  Ja- 
neiro, and,  like  it,  surrounded  by  mountains  whose  verdant  slopes 
reach  to  the  shore.  Saucelito  lay  smiling  under  a  high  cliff,  and 
San  Rafael  coyly  hid  itself  away  in  its  dreamy  valley  of  shade, 
its  church  spires  peeping  up  through  the  shrubbery  to  tell  where 
it  might  be  found.  Vallejo,  fondly  expected  by  its  founder  (for 
whom  it  is  called)  to  become  the  capital  of  the  State,  refuses  to 
be  comforted  for  its  disappointment,  and  will  not  put  on  any 
beautiful  garments.  A  plain,  matter-of-fact  suburb,  it  serves,  in 
connection  with  Mare  Island,  as  a  naval  depot,  beside  deriving 


NORTHERN  CALIFORNIA.  n? 

some  little  importance  as  a  point  of  railroad  debarkation.  The 
train  rolled  into  the  country  through  a  forest  of  fruit  trees ; 
and  then,  with  the  exception  of  little  towns  and  villages  on  the 
road,  it  ran  through  one  far-spread  field  of  wheat. 

There  were  trees  and  vines  in  plenty,  but  their  abundance 
was  lost  in  the  immensity  of  the  grain.  It  was  the  time  of 
harvest,  and  here  plenty  rewarded  the  toil  of  the  husbandman, 
and  sleek  cattle  and  sheep  followed  in  the  train  of  the  reapers 
to  revel  in  pastures  left  for  their  use. 

Stopping  at  "  Knight's  Landing,"  we  called  on  Mr.  Reed, 
and  were  told  that  he  was  busy  in  the  field.  There  he  was  found 
in  a  two-thousand-acre  lot,  superintending  his  force  of  thirty 
men,  his  steam  engine,  headers,  wagons,  mules,  thresher  and 
separator,  all  working  harmoniously  together,  gathering  in  the 
crop  ;  and  this  was  a  small  outfit  compared  with  that  of  Mr. 
Boggs,  at  Princeton,  with  whom  we  passed  two  days,  entertained 
most  agreeably  in  a  princely  farmer's  mansion.  There,  in 
a  six-thousand-acre  field,  machinery  was  multiplied  as  one 
hundred  acres  each  day  was  harvested,  and  the  stream  of 
wheat  rolled  into  bags  at  the  rate  of  twelve  bushels  per  minute. 
Not  contented  with  farming,  Mr.  Boggs  gives  his  attention  to 
raising  some  of  the  finest  horses  in  the  State.  He  owns  one 
hundred  thousand  acres  in  California,  and  fifty  thousand  in 
Oregon.  Most  of  it  is  pasturage,  for  he  raises  not  more  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  bushels  of  wheat.  He  has  a 
few  thousand  cattle,  he  could  not  recollect  the  exact  number, 
nor  could  he  tell  if  his  sheep  would  count  more  than  forty  thou- 
sand, but  he  knew  they  were  not  below  that  figure.  They  are 
sheared  twice  in  the  year,  averaging  eight  pounds  of  wool  each, 
and  netting,  clear  of  all  expenses,  something  more  than  one 
dollar  per  head.     Were  they  not  thinned  out  for  the  market, 


H4  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

they  would  double  themselves  every  two  years ;  and  twenty 
thousand  being  annually  sold  at  one  dollar  a  head,  there  is  a 
total  income  of  sixty  thousand  dollars.  Here  is  a  model  Cali- 
fornia farmer — a  State  Senator,  honored  by  his  fellow-citizens 
with  the  directorship  of  various  public  institutions — who  came 
into  Sacramento  thirty  years  ago,  with  his  boots  hanging  over 
his  shoulder,  and  who  modestly  says  that  he  too  has  grown  rich 
because  he  could  not  help  it.  We  have  sojourned  with  nobility 
in  their  castles,  and  have  been  accustomed  to  the  etiquette  of 
flunky  servility  which  calls  for  the  address  of  "  My  lord  "  and 
"Your  lordship  ;  "  but  "John  Boggs — hullo,  John  !  "  is  the  style 
our  friend  receives  at  Princeton,  where  he  is  the  lord  of  manors 
compared  to  which  an  English  estate  is  a  potato-patch. 

A  pleasanter,  though  longer  route  to  Princeton,  would  have 
been  to  ascend  the  river  by  one  of  the  stern-wheel  steamers  that 
ply  upon  it.  Our  host,  Mr.  Boggs,  gave  us  a  little  experience 
of  steamboating  when,  from  the  bank  near  his  house,  he  signalled 
the  captain  to  haul  into  the  shore  and  take  us  all  on  board  for  a 
•short  trip  of  a  few  miles.  At  this  place  the  stream  is  scarcely 
one  hundred  feet  wide,  but  the  romantic  beauty  of  the  scenery 
in  frequent  turns  is  wonderful  to  contemplate.  The  river  is 
bordered  by  a  forest  of  oaks  for  miles,  and  these  great  trees  are 
draped  with  festoons  of  wild  grape-vines,  loaded  with  early 
clusters  that  perfume  the  air.  This  little  excursion  was  termi- 
nated on  meeting  the  carriage  that  followed  us  along  the 
road  by  the  shore.  Before  the  advent  of  the  railroad,  all  pas- 
sengers and  freight  were  transported  on  the  river;  and  the 
wheat  produced  in  the  greater  part  of  this  district  is  still  sent 
down  to  market  by  steamers  as  a  cheaper  conveyance  than  by  rail. 

Jacinto,  fifteen  miles  above  Princeton,  is  the  capital  of 
the  dukedom  of  Dr.  Glenn,  for  he  owns  its  site  and  its  sur- 


NOR  THERN  CALIFORNIA.  T  z  $ 

roundings.  I  have  gradually  introduced  you  to  Dr.  Glenn, 
first  describing  what  might  be  termed  a  large  farm  at  Knight's 
Landing,  next  a  larger  one  at  Princeton,  and  now  coming  to  the 
largest  estate  under  cultivation  in  California,  or  in  the  world — 
fifty-six  thousand  acres  planted  in  wheat !  The  doctor's  modest 
cottage  is  a  house  indicative  of  occupation  by  a  farmer  of  one 
or  two  hundred  acres.  "  Father  is  not  at  home,"  said  one  of 
the  young  ladies,  "  but  he  is  about  the  place  somewhere  ;  if  you 
like,  I  will  go  with  you  on  horseback  and  find  him."  This  ar- 
rangement being  perfectly  satisfactory,  we  were  soon  galloping 
through  the  wheat  fields.  After  a  sharp  ride  of  half  an  hour,  I 
began  to  think  my  little  pilot  had  lost  her  bearings ;  but  she 
assured  me  that  her  father  was  only  seven  miles  off,  and  we 
should  soon  find  him,  and  we  shortly  afterward  met  him  on  his 
return. 

The  crop  of  this  year  was  below  the  average,  as  the  doctor 
said  it  would  not  yield  more  than  twenty  bushels  to  the  acre.  It 
is  his  custom  to  plant  two-thirds  of  the  land  annually  and  allow 
one-third  to  recuperate.  In  this  he  shows  more  wisdom  and 
a  greater  regard  for  the  future  than  a  Californian  farmer  usually 
has.  He  finds  that  the  estate  is  so  large  that  it  is  burdensome, 
and  has  begun  to  lease  parts  of  it  on  shares.  It  would  be  well 
for  themselves  and  for  the  community  if  all  the  great  landholders 
should  realize  their  mistake  in  extending  their  territories  beyond 
moderate  bounds.  Most  of  them  are  never  satisfied,  but  are 
always  craving  more  land.  By  this  means  some  of  the  richest  are 
absolutely  poor.  Every  dollar  they  get  being  expended  in  the 
purchase  of  other   acres    they  are  always  borrowers. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Los  Angeles  we  were  taken  by  a 
friend  to  visit  a  property  of  several  thousand  acres.  The  pro- 
prietor was  not  the  owner  of  a  decent  suit  of  clothes,  and  as  the 


li6  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

family  had  just  dined  upon  all  the  bacon  they  had,  he  could  not 
offer  us  a  morsel  of  food.  The  great  productiveness  of  the  soil 
offers  irresistible  temptations  to  purchasing  more  and  to  borrow- 
ing money  at  high  rates  of  interest.  In  ordinary  seasons  a  man 
may  be  able  to  pay  eighteen  per  cent,  for  loans,  and  at  the 
end  of  four  years  to  repay  the  money  and  to  own  the  land.  This 
state  of  things  encourages  the  establishment  of  banks  in  every 
small  village ;  but,  whatever  are  their  profits,  it  cannot  be 
healthy  practice  for  a  man  to  keep  himself  poor  in  order  to  grow 
rich. 

The  private  village  of  Jacinto  is  a  curiosity.  Dr.  Glenn  owns 
it,  and  therefore  controls  its  religion,  morals  and  trade.  He 
will  not  have  any  false  doctrine,  heresy  or  schism  preached  in 
his  church,  nor  any  liquor  sold  in  his  tavern  ;  and  the  store,  a 
large  two-story  brick  building,  is  well  supplied  with  every  con- 
ceivable necessity,  furnishing  at  just  prices  all  that  the  people 
he  employs  require.  An  immense  warehouse,  capable  of  stor- 
ing four  hundred  thousand  bushels  of  wheat,  stands  on  the  river 
bank,  where  its  contents  can  be  slid  on  board  the  steamers. 
There  are  the  stage  house,  the  wagon  factory,  the  blacksmith's 
shop,  the  shoemaker,  the  tailor,  the  butcher  and  the  baker  ;  here 
are  Sam  Lew's  store  and  "  intelligence  office,"  the  respective 
laundries  of  Sue  Wan,  Clong  Sing  and  Jim  Yew,  all  these  estab- 
lishments being  necessary  to  the  support  of  Dr.  Glenn  and  his 
family,  and  of  the  families  of  his  laborers,  or  for  conducting  the 
business  of  the  ranch.  And  there  sat  the  lord  of  the  domain, 
dressed  in  his  home-spun  suit,  seemingly  unconscious  that  he 
owned  a  dollar.  As  he  delights  in  hospitality,  his  cottage  is  al- 
ways full  to  overflowing,  and  it  needs  no  card  of  invitation  to 
make  any  lady  or  gentleman  an  acceptable  inmate.'  Not  content 
with  a  welcome  to  the  coming,  but  with  a  readiness  to  speed  their 


NOR  THERN  CAL IFORNIA.  j  j  y 

parting  guests,  one  of  the  sons  drove  us  over  to  Chico  in  the 
evening. 

Crossing  the  Sacramento,  the  road  lay  for  four  miles  through 
groves  of  oaks  and  wild  vines,  and,  emerging  from  the  river 
bottom,  kept  on  through  nine  miles  of  continuous  wheat  fields 
until  it  reached  the  town.  Chico  is  a  pretty  village  of  three 
thousand  inhabitants,  owing  its  prosperity  to  farming  and  to  the 
lumber  brought  down  from  the  Sierras  in  a  flume  for  a  distance 
of  forty  miles,  and  shipped  by  the  Oregon  Railroad  running 
through  the  place. 

General  Bidwell  has  a  property  of  twenty-three  thousand 
acres  in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  of  which  one  hundred 
and  fifty  are  planted  in  vines,  and  as  much  in  peach,  cherry, 
almond,  olive,  fig,  orange  and  lemon  groves.  As  from  some 
cause  he  has  not  been  successful  in  making  wine,  he  has  turned 
his  attention  to  drying  raisins,  which  industry  promises  larger 
returns.  His  career  affords  another  instance  of  prosperity 
founded  on  energy  •  for  on  the  very  spot  where  his  castellated 
mansion  rears  its  walls,  formerly  stood  the  little  adobe  hut  where 
he  once  dispensed  liquors  and  cigars  over  his  bar.  He  may 
justly  feel  a  pride  in  the  change  of  his  fortunes. 

After  a  description  of  Dr.  Glenn's  farm,  that  of  Mr.  Reavis, 
near  Chico,  may  seem  to  be  scarcely  worth  a  reference,  as  it  con- 
tains only  twelve  thousand  acres.  Nevertheless,  the  manage- 
ment of  the  estate  is  admirable.  After  visiting  the  harvest  field, 
where  fifty  men  busily  worked  together  like  so  many  parts  of  a 
clock,  we  inspected  the  stables  of  blood  horses,  one  of  which, 
"  Blackbird,"  had  been  purchased  from  Mr.  Boggs  for  ten  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  young  son  of  the  proprietor  said  with  becom- 
ing modesty,  "  Father  hasn't  much  of  a  ranch,  and  doesn't  care 
to  have  a  big  one.     He  sticks  to  raising  wheat,  and  doesn't  care 


n8  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

for  stock,  for  we  have  only  two  thousand  head  of  cattle  and  three 
hundred  horses  over  yonder  in  the  mountains." 

The  ranches  of  a  few  gentlemen  have  been  mentioned,  as 
specimens  of  the  great  landholders  of  California  whose  enterprise 
is  so  creditable  to  their  industry.  It  may  be  observed  that  their 
present  estates  have  invariably  accumulated  from  small  begin- 
nings. Indeed,  there  is  scarcely  a  single  instance  of  a  man's 
"  starting  in  "  with  wealth  that  has  not  ended  in  failure,  whereas 
there  are  thousands  of  poor  men  who  have  become  rich  by 
farming. 

When  these  great  estates  are  divided — as  they  will  be  before 
many  years  elapse — into  small  farms  of  one  or  two  hundred 
acres,  capable  of  being  easily  worked  by  single  families,  and  af- 
fording them  a  comfortable  livelihood  ;  when  seven  millions  in- 
stead of  seven  hundred  thousand  people  live  in  California  to 
work,  and  work  to  live  upon  her  wheat,  corn,  barley,  oats,  cattle, 
sheep,  hogs,  fruits  and  vineyards,  all  its  vast  population  may 
boast  of  a  solid  wealth  derived  from  its  only  true  source ;  for  it 
will  be  the  reward  of  honest  labor. 


REVIEW.  ng 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Review  of  the  Mining  and  Agricultural  Interests  op 
California — Along  the  Sacramento — Napa — Calistoga 
— The  Petrified  Forest — The  Geysers — San  Francisco. 

Following  the  course  of  the  Sacramento  River  on  the  Oregon 
Railroad,  we  came  to  Marysville,  fifty  miles  from  Chico,  still  a 
town  of  some  importance  as  centre  of  a  large  farming  population, 
although  the  activity  it  once  displayed  as  a  great  mining  camp  of 
the  placer  diggings  has  subsided.  To  this  district  the  first  pros- 
pectors were  attracted,  and  for  years  the  gulches  and  sluices 
yielded  them  a  golden  harvest.  Now  there  are  no  more  nuggets 
to  be  found  by  grubbing  or  chance,  but  in  their  place  the  fields 
are  covered  with  golden  wheat. 

The  changes  of  business  and  industries  give  force  to  a 
remark  made  by  Governor  Stanford.  "  California,"  said  he, 
'•  owes  her  prosperity  to  agriculture.  If  every  mine  could  be 
sunk  out  of  sight  ten  thousand  fathoms  deep  it  would  be 
for  her  advantage."  Continuing  the  conversation,  he  added, 
as  nearly  as  his  words  can  be  remembered,  "  Mining  is  com- 
paratively an  unproductive  industry.  All  the  laborers  engaged 
in  it  do  not  earn  as  much  as  farm  hands  upon  the  average, 
while   they  are  losers  in  health,  and  it  gives  rise  to  a  species 


120  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

of  gambling  which  robs  the  whole  community.  Now,  there  are 
three  thousand  people  in  San  Francisco  who  live  directly  or  in- 
directly from  the  purchase  and  sale  of  stocks,  averaging  in  their 
expenses  $3000  per  year.  There  are  $9,000,000  which  they  cer- 
tainly do  not  earn,  but  take  from  their  victims.  These  men 
should  earn  this  money  for  themselves  by  being  producers. 
Then  they  would  not  rob  their  fellow-citizens  ;  and  if  they  and 
the  miners  were  all  at  work  in  the  wheat  fields,  our  railroads 
could  well  spare  the  profits  made  from  the  transportation  of  ore 
and  bullion."  What  has  been  said  of  Southern  California  may 
be  quoted  as  proof  that  farming  is  as  uncertain  as  mining  when 
the  crops  fail,  and  there  is  not  only  a  loss  of  harvest,  but  of  cat- 
tle and  sheep.  It  is  true  that  years  of  drought  sometimes  occur, 
but  these  may  always  be  provided  for  by  selecting  lands  that  can 
be  irrigated,  while  stock  may  be  preserved  by  taking  propei 
precautions.  The  melancholy  loss  of  animal  life  by  starvation, 
might  have  been  avoided.  There  was  an  abundant  harvest  even 
upon  some  uplands,  but  the  farmers,  after  going  through  the  wheat- 
fields  with  "  headers,"  and  taking  off  the  tops  of  the  stalks,  either 
brought  in  their  stock  from  the  ranges  to  feed  it  down,  or  they 
only  set  it  on  fire  to  be  rid  of  it. 

If  that  straw  had  been  cut  and  stacked,  the  mute  blessings  of 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  poor  beasts  would  have  come  down 
upon  those  farmers'  heads,  and  what  they  would  value  more,  the 
lives  of  the  animals  would  have  been  saved  for  their  profit. 

Passing  through  Sacramento  we  reached  Napa  on  the  4th 
of  July.  The  anniversary  was  there  celebrated  by  a  great 
barbacue,  to  which  all  were  freely  invited.  Oxen  and  sheep 
were  roasted  whole  in  long  trenches,  and  brought  upon  the 
grass  for  a  general  attack  of  pocket-knives  and  fingers,  the  meat 
being  finely  basted  by  a  dust  storm  that  made  it  a  more  suitable 


REVIEW.  121 

food  for  chickens  than  for  the  men  who  had  the  grit  to  partake 
of  it.  Then  was  read  the  inevitable  Declaration,  that  shibboleth 
of  our  political  faith,  which  somehow,  in  spite  of  its  accepted 
truth,  fails  to  convince  the  ragged  tramp  who  looks  up  at  the 
palace  windows  of  the  millionaire  that  all  men  are  free  and 
equal.  After  that  came  the  oration,  an  echo  of  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  orations  that  have  resounded  through  a  hundred 
years,  until  the  want  is  felt  of  a  new  revolution  to  give  birth  to 
an  original  idea. 

From  Napa  to  Calistoga  it  is  twenty-five  miles  by  rail.  Here 
are  the  Hot  Springs,  a  "  resort,';  as  every  thing  of  that  kind  is 
called  in  California.  This  must  be  chiefly  a  resort  for  people 
who  suffer  from  a  deficiency  of  animal  heat.  Enclosed  in  a 
deep  and  really  beautiful  valley,  the  sun  has  a  full  play  upon  the 
soil,  sometimes  producing  a  heat  of  one  hundred  and  ten  degrees 
in  the  shade,  as  it  did  at  this  time.  By  a  little  digging  anywhere 
hot  water  is  reached.  The  condition  of  the  inhabitants  in  the 
summer  season  may  be  imagined;  it  may  be  agreeable  enough 
in  the  winter,  when  fuel  is  not  required  on  account  of  the  subter- 
ranean steam  apparatus. 

We  rode  to  the  "  Petrified  Forest,"  six  miles  from  town, 
on  the  Santa  Rosa  road  over  the  mountain  separating  the  Napa 
from  the  Sonoma  Valley.  This  wood  bears  a  name  likely  to  mis- 
lead one's  ideas  of  the  reality.  The  forest  is  like  all  others,  the 
present  generation  of  trees  being  green  and  vigorous.  The 
petrifaction  is  in  the  trunks  of  their  predecessors,  which  were 
discovered  buried  several  feet  in  the  ground,  and  were  exhumed 
for  the  gaze  of  the  curious.  The  proprietor  of  the  land  is 
an  ignorant  old  Dutchman,  who  told  us  that  the  trees  were 
"feefteen  t'ousand  year  old."  When  asked  for  the  certificate  of 
their  birth,  he  retorted,  "  Veil,  how  old  vou  calls  them  ?  "     We 


I22  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

admitted  our  ignorance,  which  gave  him  the  advantage,  and  he 
triumphantly  exclaimed,  "Den  vot  for  you  doubts  myvord?" 
The  age  of  the  Petrified  Forest  may  therefore  be  considered  as 
settled.  Some  of  the  fallen  trunks  are  in  absolute  preservation, 
the  bark  and  broken  segments  having  the  exact  appearance  of 
wood,  although  they  have  turned  to  heavy  stones.  They  have 
all  the  characteristics  of  the  red  woods  which  resemble  the 
sequoias  of  the  Mariposa  and  Calaveras  groves.  It  may  be 
possible  to  unearth  some  which  equal  or  exceed  them  in  size,  with 
a  sufficiency  of  rings  to  corroborate  the  Dutchman's  theory. 
The  largest  one  measured  thirty-three  feet  in  circumference  near 
its  base.  What  peculiar  properties  of  soil  produced  the  petrifac- 
tion must  be  left  to  the  investigation  of  naturalists,  who  may 
obtain  some  further  information  from  the  intelligent  guide. 

Calistoga  is  on  the  direct  road  to  the  Geysers.  These  hot 
spouting  springs  are  visited  by  tourists  not  only  for  the  sake  of 
the  phenomena,  but  for  the  drive  over  the  romantic  mountain 
road  with  the  renowned  Jehu  Foss.  It  being  all  up-hill  work, 
there  was  no  opportunity  for  him  to  display  his  skill ;  so  he 
entertained  us  with  descriptions  of  the  country  and  the  quicksilver 
mines,  formerly  so  productive  to  this  neighborhood,  but  at  present 
greatly  neglected.  Descending  somewhat  from  the  highest  point, 
we  came  at  evening  to  the  hotel,  twenty-six  miles  from  Calistoga. 

As  to  the  Geysers,  it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  they  are 
high  spouts  of  water.  They  are  simply  a  group  of  boiling 
springs,  extending  half  a  mile  through  a  mountain  canon,  where 
we  walked  amid  the  hissing  and  roaring  noises  of  steaming 
sulphurous  gases  and  over  hot  lava-beds.  There  is  nothing 
that  is  beautiful,  but  much  that  is  fearful  about  them.  The  de- 
scent to  their  valley  seemed  like  the  preliminary  steps  taken  by 
^Eneas,  when  he  was   piloted  by  the  Sibyl  to  Hades.     It  is  a  fit 


REVIEW.  I23 

place  for  the  end  of  all  things  to  begin  ;  and  I  seriously  opine 
that  on  some  day  these  pent-up  fires  and  boiling  waters  will  ex- 
plode and  send  the  mountain  peaks  flying  in  atoms  down  the 
abyss.  Before  this  comes  to  pass,  however,  a  catastrophe  is 
more  likely  to  befall  Foss,  his  passengers  and  his  horses.  The 
great  object  of  this  celebrated  expert  seemed  to  be  to  show  us 
how  near  he  could  touch  upon  total  destruction  and  yet  avoid  it. 
"  Hi !  Bummer,  mind ! "  he  cried  to  the  nigh  leader  of  his  six- 
in-hand  as  we  were  whirled  round  a  point  of  rocks  and  de- 
scended a  grade  apparently  of  forty-five  degrees. 

Bummer's  track  was  within  an  inch  of  the  edge,  and  there 
was  a  chasm  of  hundreds  of  feet  below.  If  his  foot  had  slipped 
one  inch  he  would  have  taken  horses,  wagon,  passengers  and 
driver  with  him  into  eternity.  In  this  way  we  made  a  run  of  six 
miles  down  the  mountain  in  twenty-four  minutes,  and  I  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  in  point  of  comparative  comfort,  I  have  ex- 
perienced more  of  it  in  sending  down  a  royal  yard  in  a  gale  of 
wind  than  in  driving  with  Mr.  Foss. 

A  modern  Athenian  had  been  "  mapping  out  "  for  his  friend 
in  London  the  tour  of  the  United  States.  "You  have  men- 
tioned," said  the  Englishman,  "  many  objects  worthy  of  attention 
in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Washington  and  other  towns,  but 
you  have  said  nothing  of  your  own  renowned  and  beautiful  city." 
"  Your  appreciative  remark,"  returned  the  Bostonian,  "  is  suffi- 
cient evidence  that  it  was  needless  for  me  to  refer  to  a  city  so 
universally  known." 

While  the  most  agreeable  routes  through  the  State  of  Cali- 
fornia have  been  described,  San  Francisco  has  scarcely  been 
mentioned.  She  has  no  history  like  the  Puritan  capital,  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  no  venerable  shades  of  Harvard, 
no  old  families  who  trace  their  lineage  back  to  a  convenient 


I24  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

epoch  within  the  range  of  three  centuries;  for  her  aristocracy  is 
not  developed,  though  its  bud  has  the  promise  of  a  full-blown 
flower.  But  while  the  queen  of  the  Atlantic  has  her  rivals,  who 
perhaps  vainly  attempt  to  surpass  her,  the  empress  of  the  Pacific 
has  none. 

Commerce  settled  upon  the  noble  bay  of  San  Francisco, 
and  laughs  at  the  puny  efforts  of  all  the  little  sea-coast-towns 
from  San  Diego  to  the  north  to  divide  the  spoils.  The  history 
of  the  city  is  one  of  thirty  years — scarcely  that — for  her  unkempt 
infancy  of  three  years  should  not  enter  into  the  account.  The 
"  old  forty-niners  "  consider  themselves  her  founders,  and  when 
they  look  back  through  a  vista  of  little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  and  turn  their  gaze  upon  themselves  and  their  surround- 
ings, they  may  well  wonder  if  all  is  reality,  and  if  some  part  of 
their  eventful  lives  has  not  been  spent  in  Rip  Van  Winkle  sleep. 

With  its  three  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  among  them 
scores  of  men  exceeding  in  wealth  the  like  number  in  the  world, 
its  streets  lined  with  warehouses,  banks,  churches,  shops  and 
princely  dwellings,  its  squares  set  apart  for  colleges  and  institu- 
tions of  public  charity,  its  hotels  unrivalled  in  extent  and  mag- 
nificence, and,  above  all,  its  commanding  situation,  and  climate 
sans  pair  et  sans  reproche  for  at  least  ten  months  of  the  year,  San 
Francisco,  though  yet  in  its  youth,  is  the  ruler  of  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  is  fast  becoming  the  commercial  monarch  to  whom 
the  islands  of  the  sea,  Japan,  China  and  New  Zealand  will  pay 
their  abundant  and  willing  tribute. 

Every  observant  traveller  discovers  this  at  a  glance,  and  it 
needs  not  to  be  told.  One  learns  it  all  in  a  day,  but  it  took 
the  weeks  that  we  so  pleasantly  passed  to  obtain  a  correct 
idea  of  the  natural  beauties  and  the  agricultural  resources 
of  the  State.     It  would  be  an  ungracious  task  to  criticise  certain 


REVIEW.  I25 

elements  of  society  differing  in  many  respects  from  the  eastern 
ideal.  Praise  might  be  regarded  as  fulsome,  and  dissent  as 
querulous.  A  regular  standard  of  good  breeding  is  scarcely  to 
be  expected  of  a  society  recently  in  a  chaotic  condition,  and  now 
hastily  forming  out  of  a  mosaic  of  mankind  which  first  requires 
cementing  before  it  can  receive  its  polish.  This  in  due  time  will 
gloss  over  all  its  irregularities. 


I26  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
"  The  Chinese  Problem." 

The  great  social  question  agitating  San  Francisco,  and  to  a 
certain  extent  the  State  of  California,  is,  "  Shall  the  Chinese  go  ?" 
Their  presence  is  objected  to  because  they  teach  immorality  and 
because  they  "  take  the  bread  out  of  the  mouths  "  of  white  la- 
borers. 

Now  the  danger  of  immoral  teaching  from  a  class  who  keep 
their  immorality,  which  is  exaggerated  to  the  last  degree,  chiefly 
pent  up  in  their  own  quarter  of  the  city,  is  very  slight  in  the  way 
of  contagion,  and  the  pretence  of  their  "  taking  bread  from 
other  people's  mouths  "  is  very  feeble,  so  long  as  white  hotel- 
waiters  can  obtain  thirty  dollars  per  month,  and  chambermaids 
twenty  five  dollars  per  month,  including  the  bread  for  their 
mouths  and  all  the  dainties  offered  to  the  guests. 

There  is  no  part  of  the  United  States  where  labor  of  all 
kinds  commands  higher  wages  than  in  California,  and  none 
where  living  is  less  expensive.  Food  is  cheap,  and  rents 
not  exhorbitant,  while  people,  if  they  choose,  may  live  out  of 


"  THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM?  127 

doors,  with  advantage  to  health,  the  greater  part  of  the  year. 
The  Chinese  confer  a  positive  benefit  upon  the  State  in  keeping 
labor  within  reasonable  bounds,  and  thus  enabling  it  to  raise  and 
export  immense  crops  of  grain.  It  would  be  well  if  they  should 
occupy  all  the  servile  positions  in  the  cities  and  drive  aristo- 
cratic white  servants  and  troublesome  "  hoodlums  "  into  the 
country,  where  they  can  always  find  employment. 

The  worst  that  can  be  said  of  the  Mongol  is,  that  he  is  a 
labor-saving  machine,  which  is  very  much  needed  while  labor 
rules  at  its  present  high  price.  He  may  be  classed  with  sewing 
machines,  reapers  and  headers.  These  are  composed  of  needles, 
springs  and  iron  teeth,  whereas  he  is  a  thing  of  bone  and  muscle. 
They  are  the  offspring  of  art  \  he  is  the  offspring  of  nature. 
Voila  tout.  The  advantages  of  employing  either  kind  of 
machinery  are  equal,  and  the  objections  against  the  one  are  as 
forcible  as  they  are  against  the  other. 

Our  sympathies  were  certainly  with  the  Chinese  when  we 
were  told  at  a  large  wheat  ranche,  in  reply  to  the  question  why 
none  of  them  were  employed :  "  We  dare  not  do  it.  If  we  did, 
our  crops  and  buildings  would  be  burned,  as  for  the  same  cause 
they  were  burned  at  Chico." 

Last  summer  I  met  a  sociably-disposed  gentleman  on  the 
boat  running  from  Vallejo  to  San  Francisco.  We  drifted  on  to 
the  Chinese  question,  upon  which  he  appeared  to  be  thoroughly 
informed.  He  was  decidedly  in  favor  of  importing  more 
Chinese,  instead  of  limiting  the  immigration.  He  said  that  as 
house  servants  they  were  invaluable.  He  was  confident  that 
without  their  competition  the  Irish  waiters  and  chambermaids 
would  demand  such  wages  that  families  in  moderate  circum-. 
stances  would  be  compelled  to  do  all  their  own  work.  He 
thought   that   instead  of  interfering  with  American  mechanics 


i28  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

they  were  a  positive  advantage  to  the  home  industry  of  Cali- 
fornia. 

He  gave  a  forcible  illustration  of  this.  A  large  boot  and 
shoe  factory  in  Sacramento  was  competing  favorably  with  the 
eastern  market  and  lessening  the  demand  from  that  quarter. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  white  men  and  fifty  Chinamen  were 
employed  in  the  establishment.  About  that  time  Kearney  came 
to  Sacramento  and  said  that  "  those  Chinese  must  go."  They 
went  accordingly,  and  the  result  was  that  white  men  not  being 
able  to  do  the  work  for  which  they  were  appointed,  the  whole 
concern  was  run  at  a  loss  and  finally  broken  up,  so  that  the  hun- 
dred and  fifty  white  men  were  thrown  out  of  employment  by  their 
own  act.     This  was  only  one  of  many  cases  in  point. 

If  I  had  not  been  convinced  already  that  the  Chinese  are 
profitable  to  California  as  railroad  builders  and  fruit-growers 
this  intelligent  reasoner  would  have  satisfied  me. 

On  parting  at  the  wharf  we  exchanged  cards,  and  I  found 
that  he  was  the  editor  of  the — well,  I  will  not  "go  back  "  on  the 
profession — but  he  was  the  editor  of  a  newspaper  having  as 
wide  a  circulation  as  any  other  in  the  State.  "  May  I  use  your 
name  in  my  correspondence  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Good  heavens,  no !"  he  exclaimed,  "this  is  only  private 
talk  ;  I  don't  utter  such  sentiments  in  my  newspaper  !  "  I  found 
that  he  did  not,  for  in  all  California  there  was  not  a  more  violent 
anti-Chinese  newspaper  than  the ! 

The  senseless  nature  of  the  excitement  against  the  Chinese 
should  be  at  once  apparent  when  we  reflect  that  their  number  is 
absolutely  decreasing  in  a  considerable  ratio,  while  that  of  the 
white  population  is  increasing  so  fast  that  the  next  census  is 
relied  upon  to  give  California  900,000  inhabitants. 

At  the  close  of  1876  there   were  in  the  United  States   alto- 


"  THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM."  I2g 

gether  104,963  Chinese.  They  have  since  decreased  7,900, 
leaving  97,063,  of  whom  there  are  computed  to  be  in  California 
and  Oregon  62,500,  and  in  San  Francisco  and  its  neighborhood 
25,450.     What  a  fearful  "  invasion  of  pauper  labor  "  is  this  ! 

Now  let  us  tabulate  this  invading  army  from  data  given  by 
the  Chinese  themselves  which  correspond  with  the  acknowledged 
statistics  of  our  own  authorities  : — 

Cigar-makers 2,500 

Clothing  manufacturers 2,000 

Vegetable  pedlers 500 

Laundrymen 1,500 

Shoemakers 1,800 

Watch  manufacturers 1 50 

Woollen  mills 350 

Fishermen 800 

Jute  factories 600 

Various  small  manufactures T>500 

Domestic  servants 6,000 

Doctors,  druggists  and  teachers 300 

Merchants,  clerks  and  porters 2,800 

All  other  occupations 2,150 

No  legitimate  regular  calling 777..    1,200 

Children  of  school  age  (denied  admission  to  our  schools) 1,3°9 


25,450 


There  are  twenty-five  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty  Chinese, 
most  of  whom  it  is  admitted  are  mere  sojourners  without  fam- 
ilies, who  are  expected  to  capture  a  city  of  three  hundred  thousand 
people,  to  reduce  its  laborers  to  starvation  and  to  demoralize 
them  utterly  !  And  this  list  of  their  occupations  is  a  proof  of 
their  "  enforced  pauper  labor  !  " 

We  have  no  statistics  of  the  employment  of  the  other  37,050 
Chinese  who  are  about  to  subjugate  a  million  people  in  Califor- 
nia and  Oregon,  or  of  the  remaining  34,563  who  are  scattered 
like  incendiary  fire-brands  among  the  45,000,000  people  of  the 

9 


130  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

United  States.     But  it  is  fair  to  take  the  same  divisions  that 
exist  in  San  Francisco. 

This  table  disposes  of  the  question  of  pauper  labor  ;  and 
its  enforcement  may  be  set  at  rest  by  a  declaration  of  six 
respectable  Chinese  merchants: — 

"  We  solemnly  declare  that  we,  the  Six  Chinese  Companies, 
are  purely  benevolent  societies.  We  never,  singly  or  collec- 
tively, as  individuals  or  companies,  ever  brought  one  of  our 
countrymen  to  this  free  country,  under  or  by  any  contract  or 
agreement,  made  anywhere,  as  a  servant  or  laborer.  We  never 
have  before  heard  that  our  people  desiring  to  come  here  sold 
their  relatives  to  obtain  the  means  to  come.  We  have  never 
yet  let,  hired,  or  contracted  one  of  our  people  out  to  labor  ; 
neither  have  we  ever  exercised  the  slightest  control  or  restraint 
over  our  people  after  they  came  here,  nor  claimed,  or  demanded, 
or  received  one  dollar  of  their  earnings.  We  have  never  acted, 
directly  or  indirectly,  as  the  agent  or  agents  of  any  one  of  our 
people  who  advanced  the  means  for  one  of  our  people  to  come 
here. 

"  Lin  Chuck  Fong, 
"  Lee  Ge  Qung, 
"  Wing  Puey  Yung, 
"  Wong  Sue  Foo, 
"  Lou  Kung  Chai, 
"  Chin  Kung  Chen, 
"  Presidents  of  Six  Companies. 
"  San  Francisco,  February  12,  1879." 


"  THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM."  T31 

Here  is  a  statement  compiled  from  Municipal  Reports  of 
City  and  County  of  San  Francisco  : — 

HOSPITAL. 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco  for  the  year  ending  "jfune  yath,  1878. 

Whole  number  admitted 3067 

Nations  of  the  United  States 913 

"         Ireland 948 

China o 

"        all  other  countries 1140 

ALMS   HOUSE. 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco  for  the  year  ending  June  30th,  1878. 

Whole  number  admitted 472 

Nations  of  the  United  States 138 

"         Ireland 175 

"         China 1 

"        all  other  nations 1 58 

CHIEF  OF  POLICE. 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco  for  the  year  ending  June  30th,  1878. 

Number  of  arrests  for  drunkenness 6127 

"         Chinese. o 

While  there  can  be  no  question  that  Kearneyism  and  news- 
paper enterprise  for  political  purposes  are  at  the  bottom  of  all 
the  anti-Chinese  agitation,  there  is  one  element  in  it  that  has 
not  been  considered.  It  is  a  humiliating  confession,  but  there 
is  a  dread  among  business  men  that  the  Chinese  merchants,  by 
their  astuteness  and  quick-witted  comprehension  of  commerce, 
will  take  the  profits  out  of  their  pockets,  as  they  are  accused  of 
taking  the  bread  out  of  the  mouths  of  Irish  laborers. 

While  figures  go  far  to  prove  that  the  Chinese  are  not 
burdensome  upon  the  community,  as  they  pay  their  full  quota 
of  taxation,  they  show,  moreover,  that  they  are  competing  for 
trans-pacific  commerce. 


132 


THE  ROUND   TRIP. 


In  1878  the  Chinese  paid  : — 

Internal  Revenue  taxes  in  San  Francisco  alone $550,000 

Poll  taxes  in  the  State 180,000 

Licenses  in  the  State 41,000 

Property  taxes 220,000 

Duties  paid  on  imports 1,768,000 

$2,759,000 

In  the  same  year  they  exported  merchandise  valued  at 
$3,109,320,  of  which  there  were  209,000  barrels  of  flour. 

In  short,  nine-tenths  of  all  the  exports  to  China  were  made 
by  Chinese  Coolies  ! 

The  banking  and  insurance  systems  are  now  thoroughly 
comprehended  by  the  Chinese.  They  are  establishing  their 
own  banks  and  insurance  offices,  and  they  have  in  serious  con- 
templation the  project  of  a  steamship  line  across  the  Pacific 
under  their  own  flag. 

This  enterprise  is  perfectly  feasible.  China,  in  one  respect 
at  least,  is  more  free  than  the  United  States.  The  Chinese  may 
buy  their  steamships  where  they  please.  With  ships  at  a  greatly 
reduced  cost,  victualled  and  manned  at  half  the  expense,  their 
only  necessity  at  first  being  that  a  few  European  officers  should 
be  employed,  these  hated  foreigners  may  sweep  our  commerce 
from  the  Pacific  seas,  and  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  even  now  rarely 
seen  upon  those  waters,  may  totally  disappear ! 

This  is  another  reason  why  "  the  Chinese  must  go."  They 
must  go  because  they  are  too  willing  servants,  and  because  they 
may  become  too  powerful  masters. 

For  the  prospective  gain  of  Irish  votes,  demagogues  on  both 
sides,  backed  up  by  their  partisan  adherents,  are  willing  to 
destroy  the  tools  with  which  the  prosperity  of  their  State  was 
constructed. 


"  THE  CHINESE  PROBLEM:'  ^3 

Their  railroads  have  been  built  by  Chinese.  They  have 
drained  swamps  that  by  their  labor  only  could  have  been 
reclaimed,  and  made  the  most  productive  land,  giving  employ- 
ment to  thousands  of  white  men  in  agriculture. 

They  supply  the  markets  with  fruit  and  vegetables,  which 
otherwise  could  not  be  produced  in  such  abundance.  They  are 
the  best  workers  in  the  vineyards,  and  they  perform  menial 
services  that  no  European  would  undertake. 

It  is  not  true  that  they  invariably  work  for  very  low  wages. 
As  soon  as  they  work  as  intelligently  as  white  men,  they 
often  obtain  equal  rates  with  them.  It  cannot  be  otherwise. 
Employers  understand  their  value,  as  quiet,  orderly,  industrious 
temperate  men,  and  therefore  prefer  them  at  the  same  price. 

That  they  live  in  crowded  dens  in  San  Francisco,  not  so 
crowded,  however,  as  the  tenement  dens  of  New  York,  is  unde- 
niable, and  it  is  a  disgrace  to  the  municipal  government  which 
permits  it.  So  far  from  being  personally  uncleanly,  they  are 
remarkable  for  the  neatness  of  their  dress  and  the  daily  ablution 
of  their  persons. 

Like  the  Irish,  they  send  money  home  to  their  relatives, 
and  are  to  be  commended  for  it.  The  gold  and  silver  of  Cali- 
fornia is  a  product  of  its  soil  as  much  as  wheat  and  wine,  and 
its  export  is  of  no  greater  injury  to  the  country  than  the  export 
of  cereals.  When  they  go  home  they  carry  with  them  for  dis- 
semination the  knowledge  they  have  acquired,  some  of  which  it 
would  be  better  for  them  to  forget. 

We  send  missionaries  back  with  them  in  the  same  ships,  to 
tell  their  countrymen  of  American  civilization,  and  of  the  religion 
of  peace  and  good  will  to  all  mankind,  which  strangely  disagrees 
with  their  experience  on  our  inhospitable  shores. 

Can  we  remedy  all  this  ?     Can  we  convince  California  dem- 


^4  THE  HOUND  TRIP. 

ocrats  and  republicans  that  they  have  been  laboring  under  a 
serious  mistake  in  their  estimate  of  Chinese  character  and  of 
their  value  to  them  as  immigrants  ? 

Who  doubts  the  ability  of  Congress  to  accomplish  this  desir- 
able end  ?  To  its  everlasting  disgrace,  in  obedience  to  the 
insensate  clamor  of  politicians — but  for  the  President's  veto 
power — it  would  have  humiliated  our  nation  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Christian  and  the  heathen  world  by  the  violation  of  a  solemn 
treaty. 

Now  let  this  be  partially  atoned,  by  justice  to  the  Chinese. 

Because  they  are  yellow,  not  white— yellow,  not  black,  let 
our  treatment  of  them  no  longer  give  the  lie  to  our  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  and  to  our  profession  of  religion.  Let  us 
prove  our  belief  that  all  men  are  free  and  equal,  and  that  God 
"  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all 
the  face  of  the  earth." 

Let  us  give  the  Chinese  the  boon  of  suffrage.  Then,  while 
they  are  with  us  aiding  us  to  develop  our  industries,  they  will 
not  be  treated  as  pariahs  and  beasts  of  burden.  The  only  danger 
will  be  that  they  may  be  too  much  flattered  and  caressed.  And 
when  they  return  to  their  home,  we  may  send  missionaries  with 
them  with  better  grace,  for  they  can  tell  the  Chinese  that  the 
Christian  religion  is  practised  by  ourselves. 


ALONG  THE  COAST  TO  OREGON,  ETC.  135 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Along  the  Coast  to  Oregon — Discovery  of  the  Colum- 
bia River — The  Bar — Industries  of  Oregon — Salmon 
Fishery. 

The  Californian  measures  every  thing  by  the  scale  of  his 
own  aspirations.  A  million  of  dollars  for  him  is  not  a  large 
fortune.  Beets  and  turnips  of  eastern  immensity  are  vegetables 
of  a  fair  size  at  his  agricultural  exhibitions,  farms  of  ten  thou- 
sand acres  are  modest  properties,  a  tree  equal  to  a  New  Eng- 
land forest  clamped  together  is  not  an  extraordinary  bit  of  tim- 
ber, and  when  he  talks  of  a  run  among  the  Sierras  or  the  ascent 
of  Mount  Shasta  he  is  merely  "  going  to  the  hills."  As  to  ex- 
cursions, he  looks  upon  twenty  or  thirty  miles  up  and  down  the 
bay  or  a  trip  along  the  coast  of  one  or  two  hundred  miles  to 
Santa  Cruz  and  other  little  outposts  as  afternoon  relaxations 
from  business.  A  voyage  to  Japan  or  China  to  him  is  not  much 
in  excess  of  a  New  Yorker's  idea  of  a  visit  to  Fire  Island  or 
Long  Branch.  As  California  can  be  compared  to  no  other 
country,  so  a  Californian  can  be  compared  to  no  other  man,  in 
his  estimate  of  measures,  weights,  distances  and  himself.  "  You 
ought,  by  all  means,"  said  my  friend,  "  to  make  a  little  excursion 


136  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

to  Oregon.  Everybody  goes  there  now  for  an  outing.  The 
whole  'paseo'" — this  is  a  pleasant  little  word  of  the  old  Span- 
iards— "  can  be  done  in  ten  or  fifteen  days.  It  is  only  about 
twenty-five  hundred  miles  altogether,  going  and  returning. 
There  are  three  lines  of  steamships.  The  accommodations  are 
excellent,  the  fare  good,  and  the  price  reasonable.  Go  !  "  We 
went. 

The  George  W.  Elder,  of  the  regular  line,  was  built  by  Mr. 
John  Roach,  of  the  Delaware,  a  gentleman  protected  by  our 
government  in  the  monopoly  of  shipbuilding,  which  means  that 
all  Americans  are  obliged  to  buy  ships  upon  his  terms.  This 
theory  of  protection  does  not  apply  to  the  lives  or  purses  of 
the  people,  but  merely  to  the  emolument  of  Mr.  Roach.  In  this 
instance,  the  George  W.  Elder,  of  round  bottom  and  needless 
breadth  of  beam,  not  being  quite  ready  to  work  herself  to  pieces, 
pitched  all  the  time  that  she  was  not  rolling,  and  rolled  all  the 
time  that  she  was  not  pitching,  and  finally,  though  leisurely, 
landed  her  passengers  in  safety.  There  were  one  hundred  and 
sixty-five  in,  on,  and  around  the  cabin,  and  another  crowd  in  the 
steerage  who  were  much  more  comfortable  in  regard  to  space. 
We  were  four  days  in  accomplishing  seven  hundred  and  forty 
miles.  One  hundred  and  fifty  of  them  were  of  river  navigation, 
during  which  the  hitherto  sea-sick  wretches  were  able  to  stand 
up  and  make  more  room  for  themselves  and  others. 

Coasting  along  a  bold  shore  for  the  first  two  days,  the  Cal- 
ifornia characteristics  were  predominant.  The  grass  of  the  early 
spring  was  dry,  and  the  hills,  cleared  of  trees,  presented  a 
barren  appearance.  Yet  the  dry,  yellow  grass  was  good  food 
for  cattle  and  sheep,  while  here  and  there,  in  some  shady 
canon,  their  owners  lived  in  comfortable  ranches  upon  the 
ir.crease  of  their  flocks  and  herds.     Across  the  Coast  Range,  and 


ALONG  THE  COAST  TO  OREGON,  ETC.  I37 

in  the  interval  between  it  and  the  distant  Sierras,  the  map  tells 
us  of  vast  plains  chosen  by  an  ever-increasing  population  for 
pasturage  and  farms.  As  we  drew  to  the  north  and  passed  the 
Oregon  line,  the  dull,  dry,  barren  appearance  of  the  coast  gave 
place  to  verdant  grass  and  thickly  studded  firs  and  pines.  In 
Oregon  nature  does  not  divide  her  rain  and  sunshine  in  two 
great  halves,  as  she  metes  them  out  in  California.  Here  it  rains 
and  shines  by  turns,  as  smiles  and  tears  alternate  on  those  happy 
faces  never  distorted  by  immoderate  laughter  or  drawn  down 
by  persistent  grief.  The  California  farmer  is  contented  in 
one  way,  and  the  farmer  of  Oregon  is  contented  in  another. 
The  first  consoles  himself  for  the  long  winter  rains  with  the  fixed 
assurance  that  he  will  have  an  abundant  harvest,  reaped  at  his 
leisure,  stacked  and  thrashed  in  the  fields  without  fear  of  storm 
and  without  need  of  a  barn.  Then  he  counts  with  certainty 
upon  his  thirty-five  bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre.  But  if  the 
winter  be  dry,  what  then  ?  Why  he  is  happy  all  the  same  in 
calculating  that  two  dry  winters  never  come  in  succession. 
When  short  crops  and  starving  cattle  stare  him  in  the  face,  his 
philosophy  is  scarcely  equal  to  the  emergency. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  farmer  of  Oregon  counts  on  a 
smaller  crop,  but  he  counts  with  a  greater  certainty.  There  are 
for  him  no  alternating  years  of  abundance  and  drought,  no  per- 
petually rainy  winters  and  summers  of  steady  sunshine.  Prov- 
idence does  not  send  for  him  its  gifts  in  large  parcels  or  none, 
but  it  sifts  them  more  equally  over  his  path.  He  must  build 
barns  and  sheds  as  he  was  accustomed  to  build  them  in  the 
East,  but  his  store-houses  will  be  filled  with  plenty.  In  point  of 
prosperous  agriculture  and  grazing,  inasmuch  as  certainty  is 
preferable  to  spasmodic  luck,  the  inducements  to  settle  in 
Oregon  are  superior  to  those  which  California  offers.     And  if 


138  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

taste  and  beauty  enter  into  a  man's  calculations,  as  they  always 
unconsciously  touch  his  soul,  the  dark  green  forests,  the  mossy 
rocks,  the  scarcely  lighter  shade  of  pastures  and  meadows,  ever 
present  to  his  eye  of  sense,  educate  and  refine  his  inward 
nature,  and  give  him  and  his  children  a  wholesome  pleasure 
unknown  to  those  who  dwell  for  half  the  year  in  a  dust  that 
chokes  all  poetry  out  of  their  existence. 

On  a  beautiful  Sunday  morning  we  approached  the  Heads  of 
the  Columbia  River.  Before  us  lay  basking  in  the  sunshine  the 
smooth  expanse  of  water  which  Vancouver  in  1792  mistook  for 
a  bay.  It  is  surprising  that,  being  on  a  special  errand  to  find 
the  traditionary  river  or  strait  which  in  dreams  of  early  nav- 
igators formed  the  connection  between  the  Pacific  and  the 
Atlantic,  he  should  have  passed  the  promising  inlet  with  so  little 
examination.  Equally  remarkable  it  is  that  Captain  Gray,  of  the 
merchantman  Columbia,  whose  only  object  was  trade  and  a 
speedy  termination  of  his  voyage,  should  have  turned  aside  and 
made  the  great  discovery.  The  modest  skipper  did  not  seek 
for  the  fame  his  name  has  acquired,  but  overhauling  Van- 
couver, told  him  where  he  might  find  the  river.  His  informa- 
tion treated  with  contempt,  Gray  resolved  to  prove  the  truth  of 
his  impressions.  Turning  back  from  his  route,  he  again  sighted 
the  headlands. 

The  determination  of  purpose  which  overcame  his  scruples 
may  be  imagined.  His  ship  was  commissioned  for  no  scientific 
purpose.  She  was  not  insured  against  any  such  attendant  risk. 
His  business  was  to  sell  his  cargo,  to  buy  another,  and  to  come 
back  to  Boston.  But  the  Englishman  had  ridiculed  him,  and  he 
would  not  stand  it.  The  dawn  of  May  1 1,  eighty-seven  years 
ago,  found  him  again  heading  for  the  bar  with  a  fair  wind.  The 
water  was  too  rough  for  a  boat  to  take  soundings  ahead.     The 


ALONG  THE  COAST  TO  OREGON,  ETC.  139 

breakers  were  combing  and  dashing  far  out  on  the  shoals  from 
either  headland,  and  in  view  of  the  danger  before  him  on  this 
unknown  shore,  the  question  arose  with  startling  abruptness, 
"  Shall  I  haul  off  before  it  is  too  late,  or  shall  I  make  the  at- 
tempt ?  "  It  was  decided  in  an  instant.  "  Hard  a-port  your 
helm  ;  keep  her  E.  N.  E."  Slowly  the  Columbia  surged  ahead, 
and  gathering  way  as  the  wind  filled  her  sails,  she  dashed 
onward,  rising  and  falling  on  the  foamy  crests.  Cool  and  calm 
sat  the  "  old  man  "  on  the  foretopsail  yard,  with  an  eye  on  the 
darkest  and  smoothest  water  ahead,  changing  the  course  as 
these  indications  were  before  him.  Regularly  was  "  the  lead 
kept  going  "  from  the  chains.  Now  she  shoals  from  ten  fathoms 
to  nine,  and  eight,  seven,  six,  five !  She  is  coming  to  the  bar. 
Suddenly  the  measured  song,  crying,  "  By — the — he — mark — 
five  !  "  is  followed  by  the  excited  leadsman,  who  has  no  time  to 
sing,  with  sharp  conciseness,  "and  a  quarter  three,  sir!" 

"  Steady  as  you  go  !  "  calls  Captain  Gray. 

"  Steady  !  "  repeats  the  mate. 

"  Steady,  sir  !  "  echoes  the  man  at  the  wheel.  A  big  sea 
heaves  the  Columbia  on  its  crest ;  then  she  settles  in  its  trough ; 
then  rises  again,  and  slides  before  it. 

"  By — the — he — deep — four  !  "  is  now  the  song  from  the 
chains  ;  the  next  cast  gives  "  and  a  quar-her-ter-five  !  "  the  next 
"  By  the — he — mark — ten  !  "  and  the  good  ship  is  over  the  bar. 

The  long-time  fabled  great  river  of  the  West  now  found,  had 
come  down  from  its  still  unknown  mountains  to  meet  and  wel- 
come the  daring  sailor.  With  all  this  there  came  to  him  no 
feeling  of  pride  or  exultation  beyond  the  simple  desire  to  fall  in 
with  Vancouver  again  and  to  hail  him  with  "  I  told  you  so." 
This  he  did,  and  then  the  Englishman,  piloted  by  the  experience 
of  Captain  Gray,  entered  the  river  and  claimed  it  for  his  sover- 


I4o  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

eign  by  the  right  of  discovery !  History  has  told  us  how  the 
conflicting  pretensions  of  America  and  England  were  adjusted, 
how  the  title  of  the  former  was  confirmed,  and  how  the  appro- 
priate name  of  Gray's  little  ship  was  given  to  the  river. 

The  poetry  and  beauty  of  the  Columbia  remain  to-day  almost 
as  fresh  as  in  1792.  True  the  Indian  wigwams  have  disap- 
peared. "Vast  numbers  of  canoes  come  out  to  meet  us"  no 
more  as  they  met  Captain  Gray.  Instead  of  these,  towns  and 
villages  are  springing  up  on  the  river's  banks,  steamboats  are 
ploughing  its  waters,  and  wholesale  trade  in  lumber,  wheat,  wool 
and  fish  has  taken  the  place  of  a  simple  exchange  of  commod- 
ities by  barter.  All  these  modern  improvements  mar  the  great 
picture  of  Nature,  but  they  have  not  yet  cut  down  the  boundless 
forests,  they  can  never  level  the  grand  mountains  or  turn  the 
channel  of  the  mighty  stream  that  rolls  through  their  gorges  to 
the  sea. 

An  early  superstition,  more  inexcusable  in  our  day  than  that 
in  ancient  times  hanging  over  the  Cyclades  and  fearful  Scylla 
and  Charybdis,  is  still  attached  to  the  bar  of  Columbia  River. 
It  would  not  have  been  surprising  if  Captain  Gray  had  hesitated 
to  cross  it  in  1792  when  the  soundings  were  totally  unknown,  or 
if  the  navigators  who  immediately  succeeded  him  had  ap- 
proached the  breakers  first  encountered  by  the  Columbia  with 
nervous  apprehension.  But  nearly  a  century  has  elapsed,  the 
river  has  been  surveyed  by  officers  of  the  British  and  Amer- 
ican navies,  accurate  charts  have  been  published,  experienced 
pilots  cruise  in  the  offing,  steam-tugs  are  always  to  be  found, 
and  yet  great  fears  are  entertained  by  those  who  approach  the 
coast  for  the  first  time,  and  underwriters  actually  demand  an 
extra  premium  on  vessels  bound  to  ports  in  Oregon  at  an)'  season 
of  the  year.    In  the  course  of  time  this  unfounded  prejudice  will 


ALONG  THE  COAST  TO  OREGON,  ETC.  I4I 

be  overcome,  but  while  it  lasts  it  certainly  is  a  most  needless 
drawback  to  the  prosperity  of  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory. 

On  entering  and  leaving  the  river,  Captain  Bolles  kindly  gave 
me  the  opportunity  of  examining  his  charts  and  observing  the 
courses.  This,  with  what  I  have  been  told  by  pilots  and  have 
gained  from  other  authorities,  establishes  the  conclusion  that, 
with  equal  care  and  prudence,  the  bar  of  the  Columbia  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  year  is  not  more  dangerous  than  that  at 
Sandy  Hook.  Even  in  comparatively  early  experience,  from 
1861  to  1S69,  when  the  north-west  coast  was  by  no  means  so 
accurately  surveyed  as  at  present,  there  was  this  authentic 
record  of  disaster  :  "  In  eight  years  there  were  one  hundred  and 
ninety-eight  accidents,  one  hundred  and  ten  of  which  happened 
to  small  coasting  vessels,  and  of  these  only  three  occurred  on 
the  bar  of  the  Columbia.  The  records  of  the  Pilot  Commis- 
sion show  that  only  nine  vessels  have  been  wrecked  at  or  near 
the  bar  in  the  last  twenty-five  years.  Nine  disasters  in  about 
twelve  thousand  five  hundred  crossings  give  a  loss  of  only  seven 
one-hundredths  of  one  per  centum." 

Captain  Maginn,  formerly  a  New  York  Pilot  Commissioner, 
who  ought  to  be  able  to  make  just  comparisons,  says : — 

"  There  is  deep  water  on  the  bar,  it  having  four  and  one-half 
fathoms  without  the  addition  of  the  tide,  while  New  York  har- 
bor has  on  the  bar  but  four  fathoms,  without  the  addition  of  the 
tide,  which  is  six  feet.  The  bar  in  the  Columbia  is  about  half  a 
mile  across,  while  that  of  New  York  is  three-quarters.  The 
channel  of  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  is  about 
6,000  feet,  and  shoals  gradually,  while  the  channel  of  the  bar  at 
Sandy  Hook  is  about  600  feet  and  shoals  rapidly ;  the  channel 
across  the  bar  is  straight  at  the  Columbia  ;  that  at  New  York  is 
crooked." 


I42  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

On  this  authority  it  is  safe  to  conclude  that  at  high  water 
vessels  drawing  twenty-two  feet  may  cross  the  bar,  and  those 
drawing  nineteen  feet  may  do  so  at  half-tide.  At  low  water  and 
in  storms,  when  the  breakers  are  making  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
sea  unusually  great,  it  is  of  course  prudent  to  haul  off  and  await 
a  more  favorable  opportunity  ;  and  it  must  be  allowed  that  such 
occasions  are  not  unfrequent  in  the  winter. 

This  exaggerated  dread  of  a  bugbear  has  greatly  retarded 
the  direct  trade  of  Oregon  with  the  outside  world,  and  placed 
her  at  the  disadvantage  of  double  shipments,  making  her  a  mere 
tributary  to  California.  The  Oregon  and  Washington  farmers, 
upon  the  average,  can  produce  greater  crops  of  wheat  than 
their  neighbor  can  depend  upon  in  all  years,  some  of  which  are 
cursed  with  drought,  but  hitherto  they  have  been  able  to  ob- 
tain equal  prices  for  their  produce.  They  have  had  various 
impediments  in  the  way  of  success.  In  the  first  place,  although 
they  are  mostly  settled  in  valleys  watered  by  large  rivers,  these 
are  blocked  by  natural  obstacles,  some  of  which  cannot  be  over- 
come by  canals.  Then  the  railroad  system  is  not  far  advanced, 
notwithstanding  that  it  is  measurably  so  for  a  sparsely  inhabited 
country. 

For  most  of  the  year,  with  occasional  but  very  expensive 
portages,  the  Columbia  River  is  navigable  two  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  from  its  mouth,  and  the  Snake  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
from  its  junction  with  it  in  Eastern  Oregon.  The  Willamette, 
one  of  the  chief  affluents  of  the  Columbia,  is  for  nearly  all  the 
year  navigable  for  more  than  one  hundred  miles.  Now,  Walla 
Walla,  the  best  producing  county  of  the  State,  cannot  send  its 
wheat  to  San  Francisco  at  a  cost  of  less  than  sixty  cents  per 
bushel,  a  surrender  of  one-half  its  value.  Near  and  distant 
districts   will  average   that  ratio.      This   estimate   holds   good 


ALO.\C  THE  COAST  TO  OREGON,  ETC.  14.3 

regarding  wool,  hides,  and  all  other  products.  Even  without 
counting  the  necessary  expense  of  transportation  from  the  fields 
to  the  principal  shipping  ports,  the  loss  to  the  farmers  in  ocean 
freight  to  San  Francisco  is  from  five  to  seven  hundred  thousand 
dollars  every  year.  The  great  requirements  of  Oregon  and 
Washington  Territory  are,  therefore,  internal  facilities  of  carriage 
and  a  direct  export  trade.  The  first  must  await  time  and  capi- 
tal, the  last  can  be  brought  about  by  ordinary  intelligence  and 
enterprise.  Already  the  advantages  are  beginning  to  be  com- 
prehended. 

Seventy-five  thousand  tons  of  wheat  were  last  year  exported, 
chiefly  to  Great  Britain.  This  was  carried  in  sixty-nine  vessels, 
and  it  is  incidentally  worthy  of  remark  that  only  nine  of  these 
were  under  the  American  flag.  The  whole  crop  of  wheat  for  the 
last  year  was  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  tons,  only  about 
one-third  of  which  was  directly  exported.  Beside  this  there  was 
no  inconsiderable  quantity  of  barley,  oats,  fruits,  bacon  and 
hides,  most  of  these  articles  having  been  sent  to  San  Francisco. 

Sheep-farming  being  a  prominent  industry,  the  export  and 
coastwise  shipment  of  wool  is  annually  becoming  greater.  The 
quality  is  of  a  high  grade,  and  the  quantity  last  year  amounted 
to  six  million  pounds.  Not  the  least  important  of  all  is  the 
salmon  trade,  so  enormously  enlarged  of  late  that  it  will  soon 
be  destroyed  by  reckless  fishing  unless  speedy  precautions  are 
taken  to  regulate  it.  In  view  of  such  a  result  the  Legislature  of 
Washington  Territory  has  passed  a  bill  not  only  exacting  heavy 
licenses,  but  prohibiting  the  use  of  traps,  seines  and  nets  of  less 
than  eight-and-a-half  inch  meshes.  This  will  prevent  the  cap- 
ture of  young  fish,  and  as  it  is  intended  to  stock  the  river  yearly 
with  spawn  the  wholesale  destruction  now  going  on  may  be 
averted.     It  is  expected  that  Oregon  will  confirm  this  action. 


144  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

In  1877,  the  thirty-one  canneries  which  we  saw  distributed 
on  both  sides  of  the  river  packed  three  hundred  and  ninety-five 
thousand  cases  of  forty-eight  pounds  each.  We  had  an  opportu- 
nity to  see  the  operations  of  several  establishments.  All  is  sys- 
tematic, from  landing  the  fish  to  shipping  the  cases.  The  sal- 
mon are  first  chopped  into  sections,  then  into  pound-pieces,  then 
put  in  tin  boxes,  soldered,  subjected  to  various  degrees  of  heat 
and  to  exhaustion  of  air.  The  boxes  are  finally  colored,  labelled 
and  packed.  Chinese  are  chiefly  employed  in  all  this  indoor 
work,  as  their  labor  is  not  only  less  expensive  but  more  expert 
than  that  of  white  men,  who  are  mostly  occupied  in  catching  the 
fish.  They  have  the  use  of  the  boats  and  nets  of  their  employ- 
ers and  receive  thirty-three  cents  for  every  fish  they  bring  in. 
Six  thousand  men  are  thus  engaged. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  Columbia  River  salmon  can  never  be 
taken  with  the  hook.  When  the  British  Commission  came  out 
here  to  investigate  matters  during  the  dispute  with  the  United 
States,  it  is  said  that  they  attached  little  value  to  a  stream 
"  where  the  blasted  fish  would  not  take  a  fly  !  " 

I  have  touched  upon  the  principal  industries  of  Oregon  and 
Washington  Territory  bordering  upon  and  divided  from  it  by  the 
Columbia  River,  which  find  a  profit  from  abroad.  As  to  the 
lumber  trade  having  a  market  at  home  and  in  California,  indeed 
all  along  the  west  coast  of  America,  it  is  inexhaustible,  for  these 
regions  are  forest  homes.  The  mineral  wealth  of  the  country, 
yet  undeveloped,  is  incalculable. 


WILLAMETTE  VALLEY.  145 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Astoria — Portland — Willamette  Valley — Scenery  of  the 
Columbia — The  Dalles — Indian  Troubles — Oregon's  Op- 
portunity— Departure. 

Having  crossed  the  bar  of  the  Columbia,  before  us  on  the 
Oregon  side  of  the  river  is  the  little  town  of  Astoria.  City  it  is, 
like  every  collection  of  houses,  great  or  small,  in  the  West.  As- 
toria is  the  first  city  in  the  State — the  first  that  was  founded,  as 
it  is  the  first  in  approach.  It  came  into  life  with  a  struggle,  was 
choked  in  its  infancy  by  the  rivalry  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, and  has  not  yet  recovered  from  the  hardships  of  its  youth. 
Now  it  lives  on  its  history  of  the  past  chronicled  in  the  poetic 
prose  of  Irving,  on  its  expectations  of  the  future,  and  on  salmon. 

It  is  supposed  to  belong  to  Oregon,  but  it  seems  to  dread 
going  ashore,  so  it  stays  out  in  the  harbor,  built  on  piles.  The 
streets  are  all  bridges,  and  the  cellars  of  the  houses  are  watery 
depths.  The  Astorians  say  that  lumber  is  cheap,  and  that  plank 
and  water  are  not  dusty.  They  .Ire  satisfied  with  the  land  they 
see  in  abundance  behind  them  piled  up  in  the  coast  range  of 
mountains,  where  they  occasionallv  go  ashore  to  hunt  deer  and 
grouse.  This  aquatic  tendency  is  not  peculiar  to  Astoria. 
Every  town  at  which  we  touched  on  the  river  pushes  itself  into 


I46  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

the  water  and  has  its  plank-road  streets  and  drives.     Nobody 
knows  why,  only  it  is  the  fashion. 

The  steamship  discharged  a  little  freight,  took  on  board  a 
little  more,  and  then  late  in  the  afternoon  steamed  away  for 
Portland.  We  were  to  lose  the  anticipated  view  of  the  scenery, 
but  the  loss  was  compensated  by  a  brilliant  sunset.  The  refrac- 
tion of  the  atmosphere  magnified  the  sun  to  an  unusual  size,  as 
in  his  full  blaze  he  dropped  behind  the  waves  and  streamed  his 
rays  along  our  path,  just  lighting  us  into  the  channel  between 
the  hills  that  began  to  encircle  us  with  their  shadows.  Long 
after  the  bright  day  had  left  the  lower  plains  its  parting  rays 
gilded  the  snowy  summit  of  St.  Helen's,  until  at  last  this  highest 
peak  was  shrouded  in  darkness. 

The  morning  found  us  at  the  wharf  in  Portland.  This  com- 
mercial capital  of  Oregon  is  one  hundred  miles  from  Astoria, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Willamette,  which  pours  into  the  Columbia 
and  is  its  largest  affluent.  The  city  can  be  reached  by  vessels 
drawing  sixteen  feet,  and  having  been  established  early,  has 
maintained  a  business  pre-eminence  scarcely  warranted  by  a  situ 
ation  much  less  favorable  than  that  of  Astoria.  It  has  its  banks, 
great  shops,  and  not  a  few  semi-millionaires,  who  live  in  costly  if 
not  elegant  houses,  for  wood,  the  universal  building  material,  is 
not  susceptible  of  architectural  beauty.  This  sentiment  may  be 
treasonable  to  the  shingle  palaces  not  only  of  Portland  but  of 
San  Francisco,  where  such  structures  cost  a  million  of  dollars, 
and  yet  are  ugly  in  proportion  to  their  pretentious  magnificence. 
Portland  is  wood  above  and  wood  below,  wood  where'er  we  go  ; 
and  now  perhaps  we  have  discovered  why  it  is  built  over  the 
water,  on  which  it  has  so  frequent  occasion  to  call  for  extinguish- 
ing its  fires.     Its  population  is  fifteen  thousand. 

The  California  and  Oregon  Railroad  is  a  projected  thorough- 


WILLAMETTE  VALLEY.  I47 

fare,  finished  at  each  end,  but  exceedingly  open  in  the  middle. 
It  extends  from  Sacramento  north  to  Redding,  and  from  Port- 
land south  to  Roseberg,  with  a  stage  coach  interval  of  two  hun- 
dred and  eighty  miles.  It  is  seldom  used  by  travellers  to  Cali- 
fornia, who  prefer  the  more  comfortable  steamship  route,  unless, 
as  does  not  often  happen,  a  day  or  two  are  worth  gaining  at  the 
cost  of  no  inconsiderable  fatigue  and  expense.  When  the  in- 
ducements become  greater  the  whole  line  may  be  opened,  but 
the  day  is  far  distant  when  it  can  derive  a  profit  from  through 
passengers  and  freight.  We  made  an  excursion  upon  it  as  far  as 
Albany,  eighty-one  miles  from  Portland.  Its  course  is  along  the 
banks  of  the  Willamette  River  through  the  valley  of  the  same 
name.  Every  rule  of  pronunciation  is  set  at  defiance  by  calling 
this  word  Will-Hammet,  but,  as  the  river  belongs  to  the  Orego- 
nians,  they  are  not  to  be  held  to  account  for  naming  their  own 
pets  as  they  please. 

Scarcely  do  we  leave  Portland  when  we  dive  into  a  primeval 
forest  of  fir  and  pine,  giving  out  balsamic  odors  and  yielding  a 
most  grateful  shade.  Flickering  rays  of  sunlight  dart  through 
the  deep  shadows,  and  the  sunbeams  have  full  play  on  the  river 
flowing  by  our  side,  sparkling  between  its  green  borders.  Fif- 
teen miles  and  we  reach  the  falls  of  the  Willamette — great  rapids 
that  come  tumbling  down  with  a  roar  to  the  site  of  the  "  old  city 
of  Oregon." 

Old  ?  Yes  ;  it  was  a  trading  post  fifty  years  ago,  ere  Oregon 
was  a  State,  or  even  a  territory.  It  is  now  a  thriving  manufac- 
turing village,  its  flour  mills  having  a  merited  celebrity.  The 
falls  are  overcome  by  a  short  canal,  allowing  steamboats  of  a 
light  draught  to  pass  upward. 

We  now  come  into  a  rich  farming  district,  wheat  being  the 
chief  product.     Land  is  worth  all  prices,  according  to  its  im- 


148  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

provements  and  nearness  to  the  railroad  or  river,  most  of  the 
government  sections  being  taken  up.  The  railroad  has  many 
acres  still  for  sale  at  low  rates.  Thirty  bushels  of  svheat  is  an 
average  crop,  and  thus  far  the  harvests  have  never  been  inter- 
fered with  by  drought  or  insects.  Winding  along  through  a  well- 
cultivated  region,  amidst  wheatfields  and  orchards,  with  pretty 
farm-houses  ensconced  in  pine  groves  which  an  unusual  eye  for 
taste  and  comfort  among  new  settlers  has  left  undisturbed,  we 
come  to  Salem. 

Salem  is  neatly  laid  out  with  wide  and  shady  streets,  has 
three  thousand  inhabitants,  and,  as  the  capital,  yearly  contains 
the  representative  wisdom  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
people.  The  State  House  was  pointed  out  to  us.  It  was  within 
its  walls  that  the  Cronin  certificate  was  signed,  and,  therefore, 
although  the  political  scheme  was  unsuccessful,  the  State  House 
of  Oregon  will  be  as  memorable  in  history  as  those  of  Louisiana 
and  Florida,  where  the  machinery  of  President-making  was  bet- 
ter oiled  and  made  to  run  more  smoothly. 

For  thirty  miles  we  traversed  a  country  similar  to  that 
already  passed,  and  were  assured  that  it  continued  along  the 
whole  line  of  the  road  to  Roseberg.  Then  we  reached  Albany, 
a  town  not  much  inferior  to  Salem.  This  was  the  limit  of  our 
excursion.  By  no  means  did  we  see  the  whole  of  the  Willamette 
Valley,  extending  with  its  connections  over  a  fine  agricultural 
country  one  hundred  miles  long  and  fifty  miles  wide.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  productive  tracts  of  what  is  called  Western  Oregon, 
a  term  comprising  that  part  of  the  State  lying  between  the  sea- 
coast  and  the  Cascade  Mountains,  running  from  north  to  south 
one  hundred  miles  in  the  interior,  from  the  forty-second  to  the 
forty-sixth  parallel  of  latitude  ;  and  this  is  but  a  small  part  of 
the  State.     Eastern  Oregon  has  more  than  twice  its  extent,  and 


WILLAMETTE  VALLEY.  I4g 

its  soil  has  equal  capabilities.  The  whole  of  the  State  embraces 
sixty  millions  of  acres,  very  few  of  which  are  not  susceptible  of 
cultivation.  Vast  tracts  of  the  mountains  are  timber  lands,  and 
still  larger  districts  are  ready  for  cattle,  sheep-raising  and  farm- 
ing purposes.  In  fact,  there  is  no  State  of  the  Union  where 
there  is  less  waste  land  in  proportion  to  the  total  area. 

With  all  these  advantages  added  to  a  convenient  geograph- 
ical position  and  a  salubrious  climate,  the  present  and  future 
population  of  Oregon  ought  to  be  prosperous  and  happy. 

Beyond  its  commercial  value,  its  trade  and  fisheries,  its  sites 
for  cities,  and  its  valleys  producing  wheat  and  fruit,  the  Colum- 
bia is  beautiful.  As  Niagara  is  never  considered  with  calcula- 
tions of  its  mill-driving  water-power,  and  the  Rhine  is  not  esti- 
mated according  to  its  importance  as  a  highway  for  transporta- 
tion, so  the  great  river  of  the  West  will  ere  long  be  visited  by 
tourists,  painters  and  poets  for  the  gratification  of  a  higher  taste 
than  the  lumberman,  the  fisherman  or  the  farmer  connects  with 
his  practical  vocation.  Unconsciously  our  people  are  being 
educated  to  this  standard. 

As  the  memory  of  the  rich  morsels  gathered  in  the  universal 
reading  of  the  present  age  sweetens  the  daily  toil  of  the  laborer, 
so  the  pictures  of  nature  presented  to  his  eye  are  ever  hanging, 
though  unseen,  in  his  workshop,  his  cabin  and  his  tenement. 
He  joins  an  excursion  party  for  the  pleasure  he  anticipates  from 
the  "  refreshments  "  and  a  dance.  He  takes  his  children  to 
"  give  them  a  little  fresh  air,"  but  he  gets  more  than  he  bargained 
for  in  gaining  for  himself  elevation  of  thought,  and  for  them 
lessons  from  a  teaching  higher  than  that  of  their  school-books. 

As  we  leave  Portland  to  visit  the  Dalles  we  find  among  our 
fellow-passengers  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  women,  and 
children  too  ;  some  from   the  town  and  many  who  have  come 


150  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

from  San  Francisco  to  enjoy  the  wonderful  scenery  of  the  Co- 
lumbia River.  They  have  taken  it  home  with  them  as  we  have 
done,  and  it  will  last  us  all  forever. 

The  "  Wide  West "  is,  as  all  the  river  steamboats  are,  a 
stern-wheel  boat  adapted  to  the  navigation  of  shoal  water.  She 
appeared  to  be  about  fifteen  hundred  tons  measurement,  an 
immense  raft  carrying  all  her  cargo  on  deck,  and  all  her  pas- 
sengers above  it  in  an  elegant  saloon,  where  there  is  luxurious 
furniture  and  well-spread  tables,  and  in  roomy  staterooms,  where 
every  appliance  for  comfort  is  at  hand.  Do  you  remember  the 
little  steamboats  on  the  Rhine  with  their  narrow  limits  ?  You 
may  compare  them  with  the  "  Wide  West,"  as  you  may  compare 
the  Rhine  with  the  Columbia  in  size  and  scenery.  You  may  do 
this  without  detracting  one  iota  from  the  Rhine  of  its  beauty  or 
its  history. 

Here  we  see  nothing  as  yet  of  vine-clad  hills,  although  our 
descendants  may,  nor  are  there  any  remnants  of  feudal  castles. 
But  there  are  hills  that  would  be  called  mountains  there,  and 
mountains  so-called  even  in  this  land  where  ordinary  moun- 
tains are  spoken  of  as  hills.  They  are  on  each  side  and  around, 
even  above,  as  they  seem  ready  to  topple  over  from  their  sum- 
mits thousands  of  feet  high,  all  covered  with  grand  forests  of  pine 
and  firs  from  their  base  to  their  tops,  where  the  tallest  of  them 
seem  like  bushes  and  shrubs.  The  castles  of  the  Columbia  are 
the  masonry  of  Nature's  hand,  deftly  chiselled  by  floods  and  gla- 
ciers, piled  up  in  regular,  irregular  and  fanciful  blocks — battlements 
designed  by  an  Almighty  architect,  and  existing  from  an  age  ap- 
proaching the  eternity  of  the  world's  beginning.  I  do  not  pro- 
pose to  describe  the  indescribable.  You  may  import  it  in  min- 
iature by  photographic  piecemeal,  but  to  know  any  thing  of  its 
beauty  and  sublimity  it  must  be  seen. 


WILLAMETTE  VALLEY.  151 

Turning  the  point  of  the  Willamette,  by  which  we  entered  the 
river  twelve  miles  below  Portland,  we  again  ascend  the  Colum- 
bia. Six  miles  above  the  junction,  on  the  Washington  Territory- 
side,  lies  the  military  station  of  Vancouver.  The  hardships  of  a 
soldier's  frontier  life  are  lightly  estimated  as  we  look  upon  the 
green  lawn  charmingly  sloping  from  the  base  of  the  moun- 
tains, and  dotted  with  the  neat  quarters  of  the  officers  and  bar- 
racks of  the  troops  ;  but  when  we  consider  their  perilous  duty 
in  Indian  warfare,  we  think  them  entitled  to  all  the  enjoyment 
they  can  get  in  so  lovely  a  home.  This  was  an  old  post  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  in  early  days  was  the  scene  of  such 
dangerous  and  romantic  adventures  as  are  now  pushed  far  be- 
yond its  limits. 

As  we  wind  through  the  tortuous  channel,  occasionally  catch- 
ing glimpses  of  Mount  Hood,  eighty  miles  away,  crowned  with 
perpetual  snow,  eleven  thousand  feet  in  the  air,  we  come  to  the 
"  Gorge  of  the  Columbia."  For  more  than  fifty  miles  we  pass 
through  and  among  the  mountains  of  the  "  Cascade  range." 
The  river  at  its  mouth,  six  miles  wide,  pinches  into  a  deep  and 
narrow  channel  as  it  cuts  through  perpendicular  cliffs  with 
smooth,  straight  sides,  three  thousand  feet  high,  where  some- 
times the  cataracts,  beginning  with  a  pouring  stream  at  the  top, 
reach  the  base  in  a  scattering  spray. 

Passing  up  forty-five  miles  from  Vancouver  we  come  to  the 
Lower  Cascades,  where  the  rapids  are  so  impetuous  that  naviga- 
tion is  interrupted.  Here  the  steamboat  discharges  her  passen- 
gers, to  be  transferred  to  a  railroad  six  miles  long,  cut  through 
the  rocky  banks  of  the  river.  Reaching  the  end  of  the  portage 
we  take  passage  in  another  steamboat  of  equal  size  and  similar 
construction,  called  the  "  Mountain  Queen,"  and  are  carried  by 
her  to  the  portage  of  the  Dalles,  sixty  miles  beyond.     There   is 

30 


!,j2  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

again  a  railroad  transportation  of  fifteen  miles,  and  navigation 
is  resumed  by  another  steamboat,  which  goes  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  further  to  Wallula,  and  if  the  state  of  the  water 
allows,  many  miles  above,  far  into  the  territory  of  Idaho,  across 
the  limits  of  Oregon. 

We  reached  the  Dalles  in  the  afternoon,  when,  by  the  courtesy 
of  General  Sprague,  the  superintendent  of  the  line,  who  accom- 
panied us,  a  special  train  was  provided,  by  which  we  had  an 
opportunity  to  see  the  rapids  and  to  return  to  the  Mountain 
Queen  at  night.  "Dalles"  is  an  Indian  word,  signifying  a  deep 
narrow,  racing,  roaring,  boiling,  swirling,  seething,  leaping  rush 
of  waters.  It  must  be  a  more  expressive  word  than  is  afforded 
by  our  language,  and  it  is  wisely  retained. 

We  followed  the  torrent  up  the  fifteen  miles  of  its  course. 
Sometimes  it  became  smooth  and  wide  for  an  instant,  then, 
darted  down  in  its  mad  career  through  the  lava-beds,  impatient 
of  restraint.  In  one  spot  the  great  Columbia  is  narrowed  to  a 
channel  only  ninety-five  feet  wide,  and  of  a  depth  which  the  rapidity 
of  the  current  has  never  permitted  to  be  sounded.  This  was  the 
limit  of  our  voyage.  Beyond,  the  scenery  is  not  so  interesting, 
the  mountains  being  less  densely  wooded  above  the  Cascades, 
and  the  river  coming  quietly  down  to  the  rapids  and  gorges 
where  it  begins  its  wild  activity. 

A  few  days  more,  had  they  been  at  our  disposal,  might  have 
been  profitably  passed  in  visiting  Walla-Walla  and  the  other 
farming  regions  on  the  upper  Columbia  and  Snake  rivers.  It 
would  not  have  been  prudent,  however,  just  then  to  penetrate 
the  country  so  far  that  a  return  might  be  uncertain.  The  Indian 
depreciations  had  driven  many  of  the  frontiersmen  to  seek 
safety  in  the  settlements,   and  some  of  them  were  so  thoroughly 


WILLAMETTE  VALLEY.  ^ 

scared  that  they  came  on  board  our  steamboat  at  the  Dalles  and 
went  with  us  to  Portland. 

In  many  cases  they  had  left  their  crops  already  ripened,  to 
be  destroyed  by  the  Indians,  or  to  perish  for  want  of  gathering. 
The  distress  and  loss  to  these  poor  settlers  cannot  be  estimated 
by  people  in  the  East  or  by  the  paternal  Government  at  Wash- 
ington. It  might  be,  if  every  member  of  Congress  owned  a 
tract  of  land  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Indian  reservations. 
In  that  case  we  should  hear  less  of  the  reduction  of  the  army, 
and  some  means  would  assuredly  be  devised  to  prevent  the  re- 
currence of  these  unending  border  troubles. 

This  is  by  no  means  my  first  acquaintance  with  the  frontier 
or  with  its  dangers.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  we  see  the  effect  of 
cause — the  cause,  mismanagement,  and  the  effect,  inevitable  dis- 
aster. Mismanagement  is  notorious  in  a  system  that  encourages 
it,  and  to  this  the  uprisings  of  the  savages  are  to  be  attributed 
rather  than  to  their  inherent  disposition.  The  Government  and 
the  settlers  are  equally  to  be  blamed  for  what  has  happened : 
the  former,  for  its  small  appropriations,  made  smaller  still  by 
Indian  agencies ;  and  the  latter,  for  encroaching  upon  the 
reservations. 

Our  little  army  is  employed  in  punishing  the  Indians  for  the 
crimes  these  provocations  have  led  them  to  commit.  This 
condition  of  things  will  never  cease  unless  with  their  extermina- 
tion, till  Indian  agencies  are  abolished,  and  the  army,  now  used 
to  chastise  the  savages,  driven  by  their  injuries  to  raiding,  shall 
have  the  jurisdiction  which  will  render  its  present  occupation 
needless.  This  authority  should  be  still  further  extended.  It 
should  reach  white  men  as  well  as  Indians,  and  should  punish 
with  equal  severity  violence  on  either  side.  The  true  policy  is 
to  place  every  reservation,  and  a  large  area  of  territory  around 


IS4  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

it,  under  absolute  military  control.  With  a  sufficient  force, 
probably  no  greater  than  we  have  at  present,  order  would  be 
preserved.  These  are  the  convictions  of  the  most  intelligent 
persons  in  the  border  settlements. 

The  principal  Indian  tribes  in  Oregon,  Idaho,  and  Washing- 
ton Territory  are  the  Spokanes,  including  the  Pend  d'Oreil- 
les  and  Cceurs  D'Alenes,  this  tribe,  under  the  leadership  of 
Chief  Moses,  being  the  most  formidable  in  numbers  of  any  in  the 
North-west,  having  a  fighting  force  estimated  at  two  thousand 
warriors  ;  the  Nez-Perces,  on  the  Nez-Perces  reservation  at  Fort 
Lapwai,  Idaho  Territory,  the  tribe,  which  under  Chief  Joseph, 
created  the  Indian  disturbance  of  1877,  and  the  Umatillas,  on 
the  Umatilla  reservation,  in  Umatilla  County,  Oregon,  forty 
miles  inland  from  Umatilla,  on  the  Columbia  River,  who  number 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  warriors.  Umapine  and  Black 
Hawk,  of  this  tribe,  led  the  party  who  attacked  and  killed  Egan, 
the  Piute  chief,  during  the  recent  fight  in  the  Blue  Mountains 
near  their  reservation.  In  this  part  of  the  country,  also,  may 
be  included  those  on  the  Columbia  River,  who  are  non-treaty 
Indians,  gaining  their  subsistence  by  hunting  and  fishing.  Their 
numbers  are  variously  estimated  at  from  two  hundred  to  three 
hundred.  The  Piutes  belong  on  the  Malheur  reservation  in 
south-eastern  Oregon.  The  Bannocks  are  placed  on  the  Fort 
Hall  reservation,  in  south-eastern  Idaho. 

The  fighting  force  of  the  Bannocks  and  Piutes,  who  combined 
in  the  raid  of  the  last  year,  is  estimated  at  four  hundred.  The 
Bannocks  and  Piutes,  also  the  Utes  and  Snakes,  are  all  branches 
of  the  old  Shoshone  tribe.  The  total  fighting  force  of  the  com- 
bined Indian  tribes  of  the  north-western  States  and  Territories,  by 
a  late  estimate,  is  placed  at  sixteen  thousand.  On  the  Umatilla 
reservation  are  three  hundred  thousand  acres  of  the  finest  wheat 


WILLAMETTE  VALLEY.  IS5 

lands  in  eastern  Oregon,  less  than  one  per  cent  of  it  now 
being  cultivated  by  the  Indians,  while  the  remainder  is  used  by 
them  as  a  range  for  their  horses,  which  they  raise  in  great 
numbers,  one  of  the  old  Umatilla  chiefs,  Homily,  alone  owning 
several  thousand.  This  land  will  produce  an  average  of  forty 
bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre  the  first  season,  and  from  forty  to 
sixty  bushels  annually  thereafter. 

One  great  cause  of  Indian  insurrection  is  very  evident.  As 
in  the  Black  Hills,  the  gold  in  the  reservation  was  too  great  a 
temptation  for  white  men  to  withstand,  so  on  these  rich  lands 
all  treaties  are  set  at  defiance.  It  is  the  old,  old  story  of  the 
wolf  and  the  lamb.  It  was  this  accursed  hunger  for  land,  equal- 
ling the  hunger  for  gold,  that  instigated  the  Nez-Perces  war  of 
1877. 

This  tribe  was  particularly  inoffensive,  more  intelligent  than 
others,  and  rapidly  adopting  the  habits  of  civilized  life.  They 
were  noted  for  their  strict  adherence  to  the  treaty  made  with 
them  many  years  ago.  The  war  began  by  no  fault  of  theirs  ; 
simply  by  the  encroachment  of  the  settlers.  It  became  neces- 
sary to  punish  them  for  asserting  the  rights  in  which  Govern- 
ment failed  to  protect  them.  They  were  conquered,  scattered, 
and  removed,  and  now  their  enemies  have  taken  up  their  culti- 
vated lands  under  pre-emption  laws.  This  is  the  punishment 
for  good  behavior  and  the  reward  for  robbery ! 

The  Bannocks,  in  Idaho,  driven  to  despair,  have  now  joined 
the  hostile  Indians.  Our  troubles,  instead  of  being  ended,  are  but 
begun.  The  Indians  are  in  arms,  or  ready  to  take  up  arms,  all 
over  the  sparsely-settled  districts  of  the  western  territories.  In- 
nocent or  guilty,  they  must  be  subdued.  Soldiers  must  fight  in 
a  bad  cause.  Those  agents  and  traders  who  have  stirred  up 
the  insurrection  will  pocket  their  profits  and  keep  out  of  harm's 


IS6  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

way.  The  farmers  who  have  stolen  land  will  suffer  justly,  but 
others  who  were  guiltless  must  suffer  with  them.  Harvests  will 
perish,  and  houses  will  be  burned,  immigration  will  be  checked, 
and  no  little  money  must  be  expended. 

The  worst  feature  in  the  Indian's  warfare  is  his  vengeance 
upon  the  innocent  for  the  deeds  of  the  guilty.  Now  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Oregon  proposes  to  adopt  the  same  policy.  In  his 
special  letter  to  the  sheriff  of  Umatilla  County,  dated  July  18, 
1878,  he  says:  "It  is  not  necessary,  in  my  judgment,  that  any 
of  the  Indians  taken  should  have  been  personally  present  at  any 
particular  murder,  in  order  to  make  them  amenable  to  the  law. 
Their  depredations  in  Umatilla  County  may  be  regarded  as 
parts  of  a  general  combination  or  conspiracy  for  the  commission 
of  a  crime,  and  all  who  are  in  any  way  connected  with  it  may  be 
regarded  as  principals."  In  other  words,  "  Shoot  an  Indian 
because  he  is  an  Indian  wherever  you  may  find  him." 

Oregon  wants  peace,  but  she  might  get  it  in  a  different  way. 
She  should  appeal  to  the  general  Government  to  be  just,  rather 
than  to  her  people  to  be  vindictive.  When  peace  is  finally  re- 
stored, a  great  future  of  prosperity  will  open  before  her.  The 
district  where  the  Indian  war  has  raged  is  one  of  the  richest 
within  her  borders.  She  has  already  begun  to  connect  it  by 
railroad  with  Puget  Sound,  where  the  security  of  the  harbors  of 
Seattle,  Tacomah,  Port  Townsend,  Olympia,  Stillicom,  and  Bel- 
lingham  Bay,  and  their  plentiful  depth  of  water,  will  give  her 
a  thriving  commerce,  and  enable  her  to  reign  with  California  as 
joint  queen  of  the  Pacific. 

Steaming  down  the  Columbia,  on  our  way  to  San  Francisco, 
as  strangers  who,  having  passed  through  the  long  galleries  of  the 
Louvre,  are  charmed  with  new  pictures  on  their  return,  so  we 
see  upon  either  side  of  the  river  picturesque  rocks,  mountains, 


WILL  A  ME  TTE  VALL  E  V. 


*57 


valleys   and  lawns  on  which  the  changing  sunlight  has  thrown 
reversed  shadows,  and  made  them  new  objects  of  delight. 

Again  we  cross  the  bar,  and  imagine  the  old  Columbia 
steadily  pursuing  her  way  out  of  the  channel  she  had  surveyed, 
and  the  proud  satisfaction  of  Captain  Gray  in  having  discovered 
the  noble  river  that  has  made  the  name  of  his  ship  immortal. 


I58  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

From  California  Eastwards — The  Mines  and  Gardens  op 
Grass  Valley — Lake  Tahoe,  Carson  and  Virginia  City 
— The  Sinks  of  the  Humboldt — The  Great  American 
Desert — Arrival  at  Salt  Lake  City. 

The  westward-bound  traveller  too  often  sees  but  one  point 
for  which  he  goes  as  fast  as  steam  can  propel  him — San  Fran- 
cisco. He  might  with  advantage  read  the  beautiful  poem  of 
Whittier  where  he  describes  the  search  for  the  waterfall,  unsuc- 
cessful in  its  end,  but  along  such  a  path  of  beauty  that  the  water- 
fall itself  is  forgotten.  When  the  old  familiar  lions,  the  city  and 
its  suburbs,  the  Geysers  and  the  Yo-Semite  have  been  seen,  he 
turns  his  steps  homeward  with  equal  alacrity,  traversing  the 
backbone  of  the  continent  unmindful  of  its  vertebrae.  These 
spreading  branches  are  almost  as  important  as  the  great  trunk 
of  railroad  itself.  Without  them  it  could  not  exist  as  a  profita- 
ble investment.  The  trans-continental  tour  cannot  be  made  with 
the  fullest  pleasure  in  the  limited  time  usually  allotted  to  it. 
Neither  time  nor  money  should  be  an  object  when  both  knowl- 
edge and  pleasure  are  to  be  attained. 

There  is  a  little  way  station,  called  Colfax,  about  two  hundred 
miles  west  of  San  Francisco.     Like  all  the  rest,  it  has  its  sta- 


FROM  CALIFORNIA  EASTWARDS.  j$n 

tion-house  and  "  saloons."  As  we  arrive  at  many  of  them,  we 
see  the  dust-covered  Concord  coaches  drawn  up  ready  to  carry 
passengers  right  and  left  to  the  mines,  and  long  trains  of  wagons 
awaiting  their  freight.  Away  they  go,  without  much  difference 
in  speed,  for  hundreds  of  miles,  leaving  us  to  wonder  concern- 
ing their  unknown  destinations.  Here  and  there  the  business  of 
the  adjoining  country  has  so  much  developed  that  side  railroads 
have  been  constructed,  making  the  increase  from  ten  to  a  hun- 
dred fold.  Such  are  the  roads  to  Denver,  to  Salt  Lake  City,  the 
narrow  gauge  to  Montana,  that  leading  to  Eureka  and  the  broad 
track  to  Virginia  City,  Nevada,  the  home  of  the  bonanzas.  We 
had  traversed  all  these,  and  as  for  the  fourth  time  we  are 
going  toward  home  we  are  still  so  little  in  a  hurry  that  we  can- 
not resist  the  invitation  of  Mr.  Coleman,  who  was  fortunately 
our  fellow-passenger,  to  make  an  excursion  on  his  narrow-gauge 
road,  and  visit  Grass  Valley  and  Nevada  City,  and  to  descend 
into  the  Idaho  Mine. 

Coming  from  the  west  everybody  crowds  upon  the  platform 
or  about  the  windows  to  get  a  view  from  "  Cape  Horn  "  of  the 
valley  below,  where  one  may  step  without  difficulty  twenty-five 
hundred  feet  and  be  picked  up  in  fragments.  The  idea  of  this 
fate  for  a  train-load  of  passengers  would  be  something  appalling 
but  for  our  faith  in  the  engineering  science  that  constructed  the 
road,  and  confidence  in  the  brakemen  who  hold  our  lives  in  their 
hands.  Across  the  terrible  chasm,  and  piled  up  around,  the 
monarchs  of  the  Sierra,  in  regal  robes  of  snow  and  forest-green, 
with  crests  of  rock,  look  down,  we  may  fancy,  with  more  of  ad- 
miration than  contempt,  upon  the  little  insects  who  have  defied 
their  power  and  inarch  in  tortuous  lines  over  their  summits,  and 
bridge  their  depths  with  spiderwebs.  Approaching  the  high 
cape  from  the  east,  the  view  is  still  more  startling  of  mountains 


!6o  the  round  trip. 

piled  on  mountains  till  the  distant  peaks  commingle  with  the 
skies.  This  is  magnified  as  we  plunge  down  the  narrow  gauge 
to  the  valley  of  the  American  River  under  the  very  base  of  Cape 
Horn,  where  the  train  we  have  left  is  seen  slowly  creeping 
around  its  verge. 

On  a  serpentine  track  we  glide  for  fifteen  miles,  diving  into 
abysses,  spanning  rivers,  and  making  steep  grades  of  a  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  to  the  mile,  always  through  a  forest  of  enormous 
pines  and  firs.  Mr.  Kidder,  the  superintendent,  tells  us  of  the 
difficulties  overcome  and  the  final  success  of  the  enterprise.  It 
is  no  stock-jobbing  speculation  ;  but  was  built  by  the  brothers 
Coleman  and  a  few  other  gentlemen  for  their  own  and  the  pub- 
lic good.  They  demand  no  higher  rates  of  transportation  than 
are  sufficient  to  ensure  the  interest  on  their  investment,  with 
which  they  are  content.  If  all  railroad  corporations  were  ac- 
tuated by  such  motives,  gamblers  would  be  poorer  and  the 
people  would  be  richer. 

The  town — I  beg  its  pardon,  the  city  of  Grass  Valley,  where 
we  first  arrive — has  seven  thousand  inhabitants,  and  Nevada 
City,  three  miles  beyond,  is  about  one-half  its  size.  They  differ 
from  ordinary  "  mining  camps,"  generally  devoid  of  any  preten- 
sions to  beauty  or  taste,  where  instead  prevails  a  perverse  desire 
to  set  these  qualities  at  defiance.  To  save  a  hundred  yards  of 
travel  every  tree  is  cut  down  for  timber  or  fuel,  not  a  spear  of 
grass  is  allowed  to  grow,  and  the  rudest  architecture  abounds. 
It  is  the  fixed  purpose  to  make  every  thing  as  ugly  and  uncom- 
fortable as  possible,  and  to  proclaim  by  all  the  surroundings 
that  the  supreme,  the  only  object  of  life  is  to  grub  for  gold. 
Here,  at  variance  with  all  the  habits  of  miners,  there  is  refine- 
ment, education,  society,  pretty  homes  lost  in  shrubbery  of 
orchards     and    vines,    and    the   air    is    perfumed  with    flowers. 


FROM  CALIFORNIA  EASTWARDS.  x§x 

These  lovely  little  places  should  eschew  their  vulgar  titles  of 
cities,  content  to  be  as  we  shall  always  remember  them,  villages 
of  this  enchanting  valley.  We  had  no  claim  upon  the  hospitality 
of  the  people,  but  their  houses  were  open,  their  tables  spread 
and  their  carriages  freely  offered.  After  driving  through  the 
shaded  streets  we  were  taken  to  see  the  workings  of  some  of  the 
mines. 

These  are  of  two  kinds — gravel  and  quartz.  A  gravel  mine 
is  a  magnified  exhibition  of  the  first  rude  process  of  washing 
out  gold  in  tin  pans,  by  which  the  early  miners  gained  their 
wealth  from  the  abundant  placers,  the  surface  deposits  of  ore 
swept  down  by  water-courses  from  the  hills.  These  were  soon 
exhausted.  Now,  gunpowder  and  the  artificial  apparatus  of 
hydraulic  hose  are  brought  to  bear  upon  the  gravel  hills.  They 
are  first  undermined,  and  then  blasts,  frequently  of  eight  or  ten 
tons  at  a  time,  are  exploded,  pulverizing  solid  hills  to  be  played 
upon  by  streams  of  water  with  a  force  attained  by  descending 
pressure.  The  dust  washed  by  processes  far  in  advance  of  the 
original  hand-pans,  results  in  vastly  greater  abundance  of  gold. 
In  this  way  the  "  Milton  Company  "  alone  obtained  the  value 
of  $308,000  this  last  year.  About  one-half  the  mines  of  the 
Grass  Valley  and  Nevada  districts,  as  well  as  at  Bloomfield  and 
other  places  on  stage  routes  from  the  railroad,  are  of  this  de- 
scription. The  quartz  mines  are  of  more  uncertain  value,  but 
many  of  them  are  even  more  productive.  We  had  the  opportu- 
nity to  examine  only  one,  the  "  Idaho,"  the  richest  of  all.  It 
belongs  chiefly  to  the  Messrs.  Coleman,  who  own  the  majority 
of  its  thirty-one  thousand  shares,  which  have  paid  already  one 
hundred  and  eight  dividends  of  seven  dollars  and  fifty  cents 
each  per  month,  and  promise  good  results  for  a  long  time  to 
come.     Into   its  depths  we  descended  eleven  hundred  feet,  and 


!62  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

then  far  below  the  busy  world  on  the  earth's  surface,  wandered 
about  in  tunnels  and  drifts,  lighted  by  tallow  candles,  meeting 
troops  of  begrimed  miners  and  hearing  the  explosions  of  giant 
powder  echoing  through  the  vast  catacombs,  astonished  at  the 
ingenuity  and  perseverance  of  men  who  seem  willing  to  pene- 
trate to  the  very  centre  of  the  globe,  and  to  explode  this  great 
terrestrial  ball  itself  for  the  sake  of  the  glittering  dust  it  con- 
tains. In  gravel  and  quartz  mining  alike,  gunpowder  is  the 
prime  agent  of  development,  and  we  sometimes  wonder  how  the 
gold  and  silver  of  antiquity  was  produced  in  such  quantities 
without  its  use.  Now,  it  is  indispensable  except  in  simple  placer 
workings.  The  gravel  loosened  by  its  force,  as  described,  is 
washed  by  hydraulic  pressure,  or  the  hard  quartz  is  pulverized 
by  steam  operating  on  powerful  stamps.  The  result  of  both 
processes  is  the  fine  dust  from  which  the  pure  gold  is  extracted 
by  the  amalgamation  of  quicksilver.  We  were  pleased  and  in- 
structed by  what  was  seen  in  the  mines,  but  our  more  cheerful 
remembrance  of  Grass  Valley  is  of  its  romantic  approach,  its 
groves,  gardens,  and  its  hospitable  people. 

Returning  to  the  Central  Pacific  road  at  Colfax,  we  ascend 
eight  thousand  feet  through  rocky  defiles  and  around  the  hang- 
ing precipice  of  the  famous  Cape  Horn,  whence  we  take  a  last 
view  of  the  beautiful,  exchanging  it  for  the  grand  and  the  pic- 
turesque. Hour  by  hour  the  grass  exchanges  its  verdure  for 
faded  russet,  until  the  sage-brush  usurps  its  place.  The  garden 
trees  are  succeeded  by  the  live-oaks,  and  these  in  turn  by  the 
scrubby  cedars.  The  cedars,  too,  after  a  while  give  up  the  battle 
for  existence,  and  all  is  bleak  and  barren  rock  excepting  where 
on  either  hand  the  peaks  are  crowned  with  perpetual  snow. 

Reaching  at  length  the  highest  point,  we  rapidly  descend 
two  thousand  feet,  coming  in  sixteen  hours  to  Truckee,  the  first 


FROM  CALIFORNIA  EASTWARDS.  ^3 

town  of  any  importance.  Its  business  is  derived  from  its  lumber 
trade.  The  continual  cutting  of  timber,  and  the  carelessness  of 
woodmen  causing  extensive  fires  among  the  pine  forests,  are 
rapidly  exhausting  a  great  source  of  wealth.  Already  tens  of 
thousands  of  acres  are  laid  bare,  and  water  flumes  bring  the 
timber  many  miles  from  the  heights  above. 

We  leave  the  train  at  Truckee  with  the  intention  of  visiting 
Lake  Tahoe  and  Virginia  City.  The  traveller  from  the  East 
should  land  at  Reno,  and  reverse  the  trip  by  taking  the  rail- 
road to  Virginia,  thence  crossing  to  Tahoe,  and  meeting  the 
Central  Pacific  again  at  Truckee.  An  open  wagon  is  the  con- 
veyance, much  more  suitable  than  a  covered  coach,  as  it  affords 
such  commanding  views  of  scenery  that  people  are  not  disposed 
to  complain  of  hard  seats  and  a  lack  of  springs.  If  one  has 
time,  a  previous  day  may  be  passed  profitably  in  a  drive  around 
Donner  Lake,  a  pretty  basin,  but  not  comparable  to  Tahoe  in 
extent. 

From  Truckee  to  Tahoe  the  drive  ascends  for  fifteen  miles 
along  the  banks  of  a  noisy  torrent,  and  for  most  of  the  way 
through  a  dense  forest  of  giant  pines.  Descending  from  the  last 
divide,  a  scene  of  wonderful  beauty  and  grandeur  spreads  itself 
before  and  around — the  clear,  placid  lake  lying  at  our  feet,  cir- 
cled with  a  vast  amphitheatre  of  mountains,  some  of  them  even 
at  this  season  capped  with  hoary  crowns  of  snow,  and  all  sloping 
from  their  rocky  belts,  beyond  which  no  vegetation  thrives, 
through  one  thousand  feet  of  forests  of  unfading  green.  The 
great  mirror,  sixty  miles  in  circumference,  reverses  its  variegated 
frame  as  the  morning  sun  throws  the  shadow  of  the  rocky  peaks 
far  out  upon  its  expanded  plane. 

The  water  is  so  clear  that  the  bottom  may  be  seen  at  a  depth 
of  twenty  fathoms,  and  so  light  that  its  touch  is  almost  like  that 


j 64  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

of  air.  It  is  nearly  impossible  for  the  best  swimmers  to  float 
upon  it,  and  a  body  that  sinks  never  rises  again.  Far  down,  the 
water  is  cold  as  ice,  and  marvellous  stories  are  told  of  unfortu- 
nates who  have  fallen  overboard  in  some  of  its  greater  depths. 
There,  it  is  said,  they  can  be  seen  occasionally,  when  the  lake  is 
especially  calm  and  clear,  lying  as  they  have  fallen,  and  resting 
forever  in  their  watery  shrouds. 

There  are  old  legends  of  Indian  love  and  hate,  offering  an 
excuse  for  future  poets  to  invent  Hiawathas  and  Minnehahas, 
and  to  clothe  squalid  savages  in  garbs  of  imaginary  tenderness 
and  nobility. 

But  more  practical  notions  induced  us  to  seek  the  com- 
fortable inn,  which  we  assuredly  found  at  "  Campbell's  Warm 
Springs,"  on  the  eastern  shore.  From  this  point  the  best  view 
of  scenery  is  to  be  obtained  ;  the  fishing  is  excellent,  and  the 
pleasure  of  hauling  out  salmon  trout  weighing  twenty-five  pounds 
is  equalled  only  by  that  of  greeting  their  appearance  afterward 
on  the  table. 

A  little  steamer  called  the  "  Governor  Stanford  "  daily  cir- 
cumnavigates the  lake,  stopping  at  all  ports  on  the  California 
and  Nevada  shores,  for  the  State  lines  run  through  its  deep 
waters.  A  day  may  be  pleasantly  passed  on  her  deck.  By  all 
means  take  this  excursion. 

From  Glenbrook,  on  the  Nevada  side,  a  stage  runs  to 
Carson,  on  the  railroad  to  Virginia  City,  distant  fifteen  miles. 
There  is  nothing  to  recommend  the  dusty  mountain  road,  except- 
ing that  the  stage  is  driven  by  a  celebrated  break-neck  coachman 
named  Hank  Monk,  whose  delight  is  to  frighten  women  and 
children.  It  is  his  boast  that  he  "  scared  Horace  Greeley  into 
fits." 

We  did  not  avail  ourselves  of  this  route,  as  our  landlord 


FROM  CALIFORNIA  EASTWARDS.  ^e 

offered  us  saddle-horses  to  cross  the  divide  that  separates  the 
Warm  Springs  from  Carson.  The  trail  is  twenty-five  miles  long, 
and  we  hoped  to  accomplish  the  distance  in  a  few  hours.  Our 
guide  lost  his  reckoning ;  and  we  wandered  for  a  whole  day 
through  pathless  solitudes,  until,  late  in  the  afternoon,  we  fell  in 
with  a  strolling  Indian.  Instead  of  taking  our  scalps,  this  gentle 
savage  piloted  us  in  the  right  direction,  so  that  we  reached 
Carson  in  the  evening.  During  a  ride  so  tedious  and  difficult, 
the  romantic  scenery  in  abundance,  did  not  so  much  engage 
attention  as  the  prospect  of  food  and  rest. 

The  busy  little  town  of  Carson  derives  its  chief  trade  from 
the  great  mines  of  Nevada.  On  the  route  over  the  railroad  to 
Virginia  City  on  every  side  were  to  be  seen  sluices,  crushing- 
mills  and  smelters.  Everybody  in  this  district  seemed  to  be 
living  on  a  diet  of  mineral  ore.  That  would  be  their  actual  sub- 
sistence if  they  depended  upon  raising  food  from  the  ground. 
There  are  scarcely  fifteen  blades  of  grass  in  the  whole  district. 
The  railroad,  in  curves,  tunnels  and  spans,  and  creeping  along 
precipices,  claims  precedence  of  all  other  roads  for  reckless 
locomotion.  A  story  is  told  of  the  death  of  an  engineer  who 
leaped  clown  a  chasm  of  a  thousand  feet  at  the  sight  of  an  ad- 
vancing light,  which  proved  to  be  the  lantern  suspended  from 
the  rear  car  of  his  own  train. 

After  the  few  hours'  twist  on  this  gigantic  corkscrew  we 
reached  Virginia  City,  whose  foundations  are  over  fabulous 
millions  of  tons  of  silver  and  gold.  Upon  the  profits  of  digging 
these  metals  and  gambling  with  them  its  people  live.  The  town 
has  been  burned  since  our  last  visit,  and  has  risen  from  its 
ashes  in  somewhat  better  form,  though  it  still  hangs  its  streets 
and  houses  loosely  on  shelving  rocks  and  over  deep  excava- 
tions. 


!$6  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

Nearly  all  the  mines  are  unproductive,  that  is  to  say,  they 
pay  no  dividends.  "  But  what's  the  odds  ?  "  said  a  Virginian  ; 
"  the  stocks  go  up  and  down,  and  they  are  just  as  good  for  spec- 
ulation as  if  they  paid  like  bonanzas.  In  fact,  they  are  better, 
for  they  fluctuate  more,  and  there  is  a  greater  margin  for  profit." 
He  did  not  say  anything  about  the  margin  for  loss. 

We  visited  two  famous  bonanzas — the  Consolidated  Virginia 
and  the  California,  first  going  through  the  laboratories  and 
works  above  ground.  Some  of  them  were  intensely  interesting 
and  curious — none  more  so  than  the  weighing  office,  where  the 
scale  turned  at  an  infinitesimal  part  of  a  grain.  The  appearance 
of  the  reeking  miners  who  came  up  from  the  depths  decided  us 
not  to  accept  the  invitation  to  descend  to  their  infernal  regions, 
as  curiosity  in  such  respects  had  been  already  gratified. 

We  came  away,  rattling  down  the  railroad,  flying  past  the 
mills  and  crushers  we  had  seen  in  the  morning,  and  leaving 
behind  the  mountains  of  gold  and  silver  without  a  pang  of  envy 
towards  Mr.  Fair,  who,  though  worth  $20,000,000,  passed  a  part 
of  every  clay  far  down  in  the  hot  and  darksome  dens  of  the 
mines,  so  that  he  might  daily  report  the  indications  to  his 
partners,  in  San  Francisco.  One  thing  we  discovered,  and  it 
is  this,  that  in  speculation  all  outsiders  are  fools,  and  only  the 
men  who  have  the  "  inside  track  "  are  wise  ;  for  knowledge  is 
power,  and  ignorance  is  the  victim  of  chance.  On  some  day, 
sooner  or  later,  the  near  approach  of  exhaustion  is  discovered. 
The  partners  are  duly  notified.  Perhaps  on  the  same  day  there 
are  "  well  authenticated  "  reports  of  immense  deposits  "  in  sight," 
and  the  stock  is  parted  with  for  the  accommodation  of  new 
investors,  whose  property  will  be  found  to  consist  of  a  big  hole 
in  the  ground. 

This  is  precisely  what  has  since  occurred. 


FROM  CALIFORNIA  EASTWARDS.  167 

It  is  fifty-one  miles  by  rail  from  Virginia  City  to  Reno  on 
the  Central  Pacific.  There  we  resumed  the  direct  route  to 
Ogden. 

The  road  passes  through  a  country  often  described  by  the 
guide  books,  which  has  many  points  of  good  scenery  and  is  here 
and  there  diversified  by  large  tracts  of  pasturage.  Naturalists 
have  studied  its  peculiarities  with  an  intense  curiosity  to  discover 
the  meaning  and  intention  of  its  phenomenal  "  sinks,"  where 
streams  and  lakes  disappear,  as  they  imagine  to  rise  again  on 
the  Western  side  of  the  Sierras  and  finally  to  enter  the  Pacific. 
This  theory  is  supported  by  the  fact  that  on  the  Western  slope 
of  the  range,  water  suddenly  gushes  out  from  the  ground  in  such 
quantities  that  rivers  of  considerable  size  start  at  once  in  their 
course,  but  it  has  not  been  satisfactorily  demonstrated. 

The  solution  would  be  of  as  much  practical  value  as  the  dis- 
covery of  the  North  Pole,  and  the  investigation  would  involve 
less  hardship  and  expense.  A  scientific  corps  might  be  detailed 
whose  business  it  should  be  to  throw  chips  into  the  Humboldt 
river  and  watch  for  their  appearance  in  the  Santa  Ana.  This 
modest  suggestion  is  made  with  a  view  of  "appropriating"  a 
little  more  money  from  the  Treasury  in  addition  to  the  amount 
annually  expended  for  purposes  of  similar  utility. 

The  stations  along  the  route,  mark  the  locations  of  small 
towns  of  apparent  insignificance,  but  many  of  them  are  the 
depots  of  valuable  mining  districts  in  the  interior  with  which  a 
large  trade  is  carried  on,  and  whence  an  abundance  of  ore  is 
brought  for  transportation  to  San  Francisco  and  the  East.  Some 
of  the  most  noteworthy  of  them  are  Wadsworth,  Humboldt, 
Winnemucca,  Battle  Mountain  and  Elko.  At  Terrace,  we  come 
to  the  Western  limit  of  what  is  called  "  The  Great  American 
Desert,"  once  undoubtedly  an  inland  sea,  now  settled  down  to 


x68  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

the  comparatively  small  surface  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake.  We 
get  an  extended  view  of  its  waters  at  early  morning  when  Mon- 
ument Point  is  reached.  After  a  few  hours  the  train  arrives  at 
Ogden,  the  terminus  of  the  road  at  its  junction  with  the  Union 
Pacific. 

There  we  take  passage  for  Salt  Lake  City  over  the  Utah 
Central  Railroad  for  a  distance  of  thirty-eight  miles.  This  road, 
now  owned  in  part  by  the  Union  Pacific,  to  which  it  is  a  most 
profitable  auxiliary,  was  built  under  the  direction  of  the  late 
Brigham  Young.  That  politic  leader  of  the  Mormons,  finding 
his  hopes  of  isolation  destined  to  be  thwarted,  turned  his  mind 
to  making  his  defeat  successful  in  a  pecuniary  way.  He  re- 
solved to  balance  his  loss  of  religious  influence  by  worldly  gain, 
and  entered  heartily  into  the  railroad  enterprise,  detailing  his 
people  to  build,  not  only  this  road,  but  also  many  miles  of  the 
main  trunk  Line.  His  success  is  apparent,  for  at  his  death  he 
held,  at  a  cost  of  little  or  nothing  to  himself,  a  large  amount  of 
the  bonds  of  the  Utah  Central  road  which  annually  pays  to  its 
stockholders  a  dividend  of  twelve  per  cent,  on  a  capital  stock  of 
a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars. 


SUJVSE T  AT  SALT  LAKE.  1 69 


CHAPTER  XXL 

Sunset  at  Salt  Lake — The  Mormon  Jerusalem — The  As- 
sembly of  the  Saints — The  Late  Brigham  Young — 
The  Close  of  the  Conference — Society  in  Utah. 

Bierstadt  should  paint  for  us  this  dissolving  view  of  Salt 
Lake  City.  He  should  sit  at  this  upper  window  as  the  sun  is 
going  down  beyond  the  Oquirrh  Mountains,  and,  looking  east- 
ward upon  the  Wasatch  range,  under  which  this  beautiful  city  is 
nestled  among  gardens  of  fruitful  trees  and  shrubbery,  he  should 
watch  the  changing  colors,  catch  the  passing  shades,  and  follow 
with  his  artistic  eye  the  long  shadows  as  they  creep  up  the  in- 
clined plane  that  leads  to  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  see  the 
sombre  tints  climb  higher  and  higher  among  the  rugged  crags, 
until  they  reach  the  snow-clad  summits  and  suddenly  change 
into  sunlight,  which  rests  for  an  instant,  a  narrow  gilded  strip  of 
light,  and  then  vanishes,  leaving  the  dark  outline  against  the 
clear  sky.  He  should  seize  some  best  moment  of  this  serene 
death  of  the  day,  and  transfer  to  his  canvas  a  scene  that  cannot 
be  expressed  by  words. 

I  do  not  wonder  at  the  poetic  faith  of  these  Latter-Day 
Saints;  that  they  should  so  often  exclaim,  "  Beautiful  is  Mount 
Zion,  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth,"  and  that  they  should   quote 


170  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

the  inspired  prophecies  of  Isaiah  as  foretelling  the  glories  of 
their  kingdom. 

The  time  of  our  arrival  was  the  season  of  the  semi-annual 
conference  of  the  church.  Salt  Lake  City  is  the  Mormon  Jeru- 
salem. Here  is  their  holy  of  holies,  the  site  on  which  their 
great  temple  is  slowly  creeping  up  from  its  foundations,  to  be 
the  wonder  of  the  world  ;  here  is  their  enormous  Tabernacle  ; 
here  their  beautiful  streets,  ere  long  to  be  paved  with  silver  and 
gold;  here  dwells  their  great  high  priest,  and  his  chief  Levites 
make  it  their  home  ;  here,  the  Sanhedrim  being  assembled  to 
preside  over  the  semi-annual  conference,  the  tribes  of  Israel 
have  been  gathered  together.  From  north  and  south,  from  east 
and  west,  down  from  the  mountains  and  up  from  the  valleys, 
they  have  poured  into  the  city,  nominally  to  confer  with  one 
another  about  the  interests  of  Zion,  but  in  reality  to  receive 
counsel  and  dictation. 

Since  the  railroads  have  been  constructed,  the  means  of 
access  to  the  town  have  been  increased,  and  the  throng  of  people 
is  greater  than  ever.  But  the  picturesque  effect  is  diminished. 
The  streets  and  market  places  are  no  longer  crowded  with 
wagons  and  saddle-beasts.  These  may  still  be  seen  in  great 
numbers,  and  every  night  in  the  outskirts  of  the  town  the  light 
of  camp-fires  falls  upon  them.  Altogether  the  scene  and  occa- 
sion are  such  that  a  stranger  would  not  willingly  be  absent. 

The  Tabernacle  is  the  chief  attraction.  There  sat  the 
Prophet  on  his  pulpit  throne.  Around  him  were  his  council- 
lors :  ranged  below  him  were  the  Twelve  Apostles,  and  all 
about  him  were  gathered  the  Council  of  Seventy,  while  presi- 
dents, elders,  and  bishops  of  high  and  low  degree  were  the 
numerous  satellites  of  his  train. 

St.  Peter's   Cathedral  is  more   splendid   than  this  Mormon 


THE  ASSEMBL  V  OF  THE  SAINTS.  j  7 1 

Tabernacle,  and  the  cardinals  flaunt  in  scarlet  robes  ;  but  Brig- 
ham  Young,  in  his  plain  clothes,  with  his  white  handkerchief 
always  tied  about  his  neck,  surrounded  by  his  body-guard  of  i  11— 
dressed,  illiterate  men,  possessed  a  power  and  influence  over 
his  people  such  as  the  Pope  would  not  venture  to  exercise  on 
those  who  call  him  the  Vicegerent  of  Christ. 

For  one,  I  have  never  been  disposed  to  reverence,  esteem, 
hate,  or  slander  him,  but  to  regard  his  character  from  a  strictly 
impartial  point  of  view. 

When  we  looked  around  upon  that  great  assembly  of  twelve 
thousand  persons,  representing  ten  times  as  many  more,  whose 
condition  in  this  world  his  sagacious  administration  had  so 
greatly  advanced,  and  in  whom  he  had  inspired  such  joyful  an- 
ticipations of  the  life  to  come,  I  did  not  wonder  at  their  enthu- 
siastic admiration  of  him;  and  when  outside,  I  saw  the  small 
Gentile  minority,  some  of  whom  were  scandalized  by  the  revolt- 
ing practice  sanctioned  by  him,  while  many  of  them  opposed 
him  because  he  was  an  obstacle  to  their  political  influence,  I 
was  not  surprised  that  he  was  honestly  detested  and  maliciously 
abused.  It  must  be  admitted  on  all  hands  that  no  religious 
fanatic  ever  succeeded  more  peacefully  in  obtaining  such  an 
ascendancy,  and  no  one  of  them  has,  upon  the  whole,  used  it 
more  wisely  and  beneficently. 

Not  touching  upon  the  objectionable  doctrine,  he  urged  the 
people  to  the  completion  of  the  temple,  advising  every  one  who 
could  afford  it  to  devote  half  a  dollar  monthly  to  the  object ; 
and  then,  taking  some  of  the  rules  of  the  "  united  order  "  as  a 
text,  proceeded  to  enforce  their  observance  on  all  present.  I 
quote  a  few  of  these  rules  : 

"  First — We  will  not  take  the  name  of  the  Deity  in  vain,  nor 
speak  lightly  of  His  character,  or  of  sacred  things. 


1 72  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

"  Second — We  will  pray  with  our  families,  morning  and  even- 
ing, and  also  attend  to  secret  prayer. 

"  Third — We  will  observe  and  keep  the  word  of  wisdom  ac- 
cording to  the  meaning  and  spirit  thereof. 

"  Fourth — We  will  treat  our  families  with  due  kindness  and 
affection,  and  set  before  them  an  example  worthy  of  imitation  ; 
in  our  families  and  intercourse  with  all  persons,  we  will  refrain 
from  being  contentious  or  quarrelsome,  and  we  will  cease  to 
speak  evil  of  each  other,  and  will  cultivate  a  spirit  of  charity 
towards  all.  We  consider  it  our  duty  to  seek  the  interest  of 
each  other,  and  the  salvation  of  all  mankind. 

"  Fifth — We  will  observe  personal  cleanliness,  and  preserve 
ourselves  in  all  chastity.  We  will  also  discountenance  and 
refrain  from  all  vulgar  and  obscene  language  or  conduct. 

"  Sixth — We  will  observe  the  Sabbath  day,  to  keep  it  holy 
in  accordance  with  the  '  revelations.'  " 

All  the  other  rules  are  equally  commendable,  and  some  of 
them,  relating  to  "foolish  and  extravagant  fashions,"  might  well 
be  preached  in  cities  where  they  are  less  likely  to  be  practised. 

In  the  assembly  of  the  saints  the  proportion  of  old  men  is 
very  noticeable.  The  seats  were  dotted  with  white  heads,  like 
blossoming  trees  amidst  the  green  foliage  of  spring,  and,  like  the 
sturdy  weather-stained  oaks  of  the  forest,  these  venerable  men 
still  hold  their  own  among  the  young  saplings  springing  into  life 
beside  them.  They  were  the  old  pilgrims  who  traversed  the 
desert  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  and  yet  bravely  hold  on  to 
life,  and  enjoy,  in  the  evening  of  their  days,  the  well-merited 
reward  of  their  toil  in  the  ease  and  comfort  they  have  earned  for 
themselves  and  their  descendants.  Many  of  their  aged  wives 
are  remaining  with  them,  "  mothers  in  Israel,"  worthily  entitled 
to    our   respectful    admiration ;   haggard,    worn   out  with   hard 


THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  CONFERENCE.  i^ 

labor,  and  too  many  of  them  carrying  heavier  burdens  on  their 
hearts  than  they  have  borne  upon  their  backs,  yet  unswerving  in 
that  faith  in  God  which  overcomes  the  faithlessness  of  man,  they 
are  among  the  truest  heroines  on  this  earth.  Hundreds  of  young 
men  were  present,  dressed  in  the  home-spun  clothing  made  by 
their  mothers  and  sisters,  strong  and  athletic  lads,  and  hundreds, 
perhaps  thousands,  of  girls,  whose  simplicity  of  costume,  al- 
though still  to  be  admired,  is  fast  giving  way  to  the  omnipotence 
of  fashion.  Last  and  least,  but  not  least  to  their  mothers,  was 
the  little  infantry  of  babies,  brought  here  because  they  cannot  be 
left  at  home,  and  because  to  exhibit  them  is  the  greatest  pride  of 
a  Mormon  mother.  A  few  Gentiles,  who  came  from  motives  of 
curiosity,  were  added  to  the  immense  crowd  on  Sunday,  the 
closing  day  of  the  conference. 

The  benediction  was  spoken  by  one  of  the  apostles.  The 
great  organ  pealed  forth  the  first  notes  of  that  magnificent,  and, 
to  these  people,  appropriate  anthem  : 

"Daughter  of  Zion,  awake  from  thy  sadness: 
Awake,  for  thy  foes  shall  oppress  thee  no  more." 

The  well-trained  choir  threw  their  hearts  as  well  as  their  voices 
into  the  music,  and  when  its  last  notes  had  died  away,  twelve 
thousand  men,  women  and  children  poured  out  in  the  streets 
and  scattered  to  their  homes. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  such  an  influx  of  people  from  the 
country  at  the  time  of  the  conference  would  have  brought  no 
little  money  to  hotels  and  the  shop-keepers.  But  this  would  be 
a  mistake.  Scarcely  a  Mormon  name  was  registered  at  the 
hotels,  for  the  countrymen  were  quartered  upon  the  faithful  in 
the  city,  or  camped  in  and  under  their  wagons  in  the  streets  and 
outskirts   of   the    town.      As   to  money,   although  there  is  an 


174  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

abundance  of  food,  clothing,  and  home  comforts,  it  is  an  ex- 
ceedingly scarce  article  in  Utah.  When  at  Lehi,  the  bishop 
told  us,  not  many  years  ago  a  book  was  wanted  wherein  to  keep 
the  accounts  of  the  settlement.  A  suitable  one  was  in  the  hands 
of  an  Englishman.  The  price  demanded  for  it  was  fifty  cents, 
and  that  cash.  Eggs,  potatoes,  chickens,  and  such  common 
currency  were  obstinately  declined,  and  as  ten  cents  was  all  the 
ready  money  that  could  be  collected,  Lehi  was  obliged  to  wait  a 
considerable  time  for  its  account-book.  Within  twelve  or  fifteen 
years,  impecunious  applicants  for  tickets  at  the  theatre  have 
procured  them  at  the  office  in  exchange  for  potatoes,  onions 
and  cabbages. 

At  every  meeting  of  this  conference  there  was  a  crowded 
audience,  who  listened  as  attentively  as  circumstances  would 
permit.  These  circumstances  were  babies,  of  whom  there  must 
have  been  always  at  least  a  thousand  present.  There  was  an 
all-pervading  continual  infantile  wail,  and  at  times,  when  this 
came  in  chorus,  the  speaker  was  obliged  to  wait  for  a  lull  in  the 
storm.  Many  of  the  discourses  were  moderate  in  character,  and 
some  of  them  dwelt  with  sincere  earnestness  on  the  necessity  of 
a  religious  and  virtuous  life.  Frugality,  temperance,  chastity 
and  industry  were  urged  upon  the  people,  and  while  the  open 
attacks  of  the  "enemies  of  Zion  "  were  deprecated,  moderation 
and  forbearance  were  counselled  even  by  that  violent  declaimer 
John  Taylor.  When  this  old  apostle  did  break  out  with  occa- 
sional bitterness,  we  were  willing  to  excuse  him.  He  was  one  of 
the  earliest  converts,  and  suffered  all  manner  of  persecution  for 
his  devotion  to  Joseph  Smith.  He  was  imprisoned  with  him  at 
Carthage,  and  when  Joseph  and  his  brother  Hyrum  were  dragged 
from  the  jail  by  a  mob  and  killed  in  the  street,  Taylor  at  the 
same  time  was  repeatedly  shot.     He  still  carries  three  bullets  in 


THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  CONFERENCE.  175 

his  body,  and  it  is  when  these  give  him  an  extra  twinge  of  pain 
that  he  scowls  fiercely  upon  us  Gentiles,  and  reproaches  us  as 
if  we  had  actually  participated  in  that  murderous  affray. 

But  most  frequently  the  saints  were  reminded  how  the  Lord 
in  all  times  of  their  past  tribulations  had  delivered  them  from 
the  hands  of  their  enemies,  and  how  the  same  God  would  do  it 
again,  however  much  the  heathen  might  rage,  and  whatever  vain 
things  the  people  might  imagine  against  them.  The  oft-repeated 
story  of  their  miraculous  deliverance  from  the  army  of  crickets 
Was  again  and  again  rehearsed.  They  were  told  how,  in  answer 
to  their  prayers,  a  great  army  of  gulls  overshadowed  the  land, 
and,  swooping  down  on  their  tormentors,  gorged  themselves  with 
their  prey,  and  vomiting  them  when  full,  returned  again  to  the 
abundant  feast,  until,  when  these  angels  of  deliverance  took  their 
leave,  not  a  cricket  was  left  in  the  fields.  This  apparent  miracle 
is  a  matter  of  history,  and  as  prayer  undoubtedly  preceded  it, 
the  prayer  and  the  gulls  are  naturally  connected.  So  now  the 
Gentile  ravagers  of  the  land  are  to  be  disposed  of  in  some  such 
providential  manner.  It  may  be  safely  assumed,  that  whatever 
course  the  Government  or  the  people  of  the  United  States  may 
take  in  regard  to  these  "  Latter-Day  Saints,"  there  will  be  no 
armed  resistance  by  them  or  withdrawal  from  the  territory.  If 
"  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  "  does  not  deliver  them  from  us  as  he 
did  from  the  crickets,  they  will  patiently  submit,  like  the  Jews 
in  their  Babylonish  captivity,  and  like  that  ancient  people,  who 
awaited  their  return  to  Jerusalem  and  the  rebuilding  of  the 
temple,  the  Mormons  will  expect  in  the  fulness  of  time  to  be 
gathered  together,  that  they  may  reign  as  kings  and  priests,  all 
nations  being  subdued  unto  them. 

George  A.  Smith,  an  apostle  of  a  milder  type  than  Taylor, 
delivered  the  last  address. 


i76  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

We  have  often  seen  children  running  into  the  country  stores 
on  errands  like  this :  "  Ma  wants  a  pound  of  sugar,  a  quart  of 
molasses,  a  frying-pan."  The  articles  were  furnished  and  paid 
for  at  the  established  rate  in  eggs,  butter,  or  some  other  domes- 
tic production.  In  this  way  trade  was  carried  on  at  conference 
time  more  extensively.  Wagons  came  in  loaded  with  all  de- 
scriptions of  farm  produce,  and  when  they  departed  they  carried 
to  the  country  those  articles  of  necessity  that  could  not  be  pro- 
duced or  manufactured  at  home.  Thus  trade  was  brisk  without 
money. 

You  might  imagine  that  one-half  of  Brigham  Young  was 
born  in  Pennsylvania  and  the  other  half  in  Massachusetts,  so 
strongly  was  he  impressed  with  the  idea  of  "  protecting  home 
industry."  Indeed,  there  are  many  Gentile  shop-keepers  to 
whom  this  doctrine,  so  constantly  enforced  by  him,  is  more  re- 
pugnant than  his  practice  of  polygamy.  As  home  industry  is 
carried  out,  however,  it  is  not  a  misnomer  for  taxation  in  favor 
of  monopolists.  It  is  a  wise  plan,  by  which  simplicity  of  living 
and  frugality  are  encouraged  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  them- 
selves. For  this  purpose,  undoubtedly,  no  small  part  of  the 
tithing  is  applied,  in  the  construction  of  mills  and  factories,  the 
digging  of  irrigating  ditches,  and  other  works  of  public  improve- 
ment. 

The  Mormons  are  drawn  mainly  from  the  most  ignorant  and 
debased  populations  of  Northern  Europe.  At  home  they  were 
fortunate  if,  as  serfs  of  the  soil,  one-tenth  of  their  earnings 
remained  their  own.  Here  their  tithing  is  nominally  ten  per 
centum,  although  upon  an  average  not  more  than  one-half  of  it 
is  paid  in.  It  results,  therefore,  that,  as  they  become  property- 
holders  instead  of  ill-paid  laboring  peasants,  and  are  enabled  to 
hold  on   to  more   than   nine-tenths  of  their  earnings  instead  of 


SOCIE  TY  IN  17 T A  H.  .  „  7 

paying  it  in  toil  to  their  masters,  they  can  well  afford  to  pay 
tithing  to  the  church  as  an  equivalent  for  their  opportunities 
and  instruction. 

The  condition  of  society  in  Utah  may  be  briefly  summed 
up.  There  are  two  classes  of  Mormons — the  bigoted  and  the 
liberal.  The  first  would  perpetuate  polygamy  and  drive  the  Gen- 
tiles out  of  the  territory,  were  it  in  their  power.  Their  influence 
is  decreasing,  while  that  of  the  liberals  is  on  the  increase. 
Superstition  and  lust  are  the  allies  of  the  former.  Railroads, 
newspapers  and  fashions  are  filling  the  ranks  of  the  latter. 
These  are  more  efficient  missionaries  than  ministers  or  tracts, 
and  more  powerful  forces  than  legal  enactments. 

There  are  two  classes  of  Gentiles — the  meddlesome,  and 
those  who  attend  to  their  own  affairs,  exerting  a  peaceful  influ- 
ence upon  their  neighbors.  The  first,  many  of  them  office- 
holders or  office-seekers  under  the  Federal  Government,  and 
desirous  of  high  positions  in  the  territory,  are  constantly  stirring 
up  absurd  rumors  of  Mormon  insurrection  and  outrage,  fright- 
ening away  immigration  of  other  sects,  and  thus  playing  directly 
into  the  hands  of  the  Mormon  priesthood.  The  last,  the  most 
estimable  and  useful  class  of  all,  are  business  men,  who  are 
developing  the  resources  of  the  country,  by  opening  the  mines, 
building  railroads,  bringing  in  capital  and  men  to  aid  them  in 
their  enterprises.     They  are  the  civilizers  of  Utah. 

12 


T78  THE  ROUND  TRIP 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Out  into  the  Country — The  Great  Salt  Lake — Mormon 
and  Gentile  Towns — Elections — Ophir  Camp — Success- 
ful Business  Men. 

Scarcely  a  traveller  on  the  pleasure  trip  to  California  omits 
to  spend  a  day  or  two  at  Salt  Lake.  In  a  short  stay  tourists  are 
unable  to  form  correct  opinions  of  every  thing  they  see  and  hear, 
although  they  often  persuade  themselves  that  they  have  acquired 
the  fullest  information.  Yet  they  do  succeed  in  furnishing  the 
press  with  such  abundant  descriptions  of  the  town  and  its  imme- 
diate surroundings  that  I  should  not  be  thanked  for  again  trav- 
elling over  their  narrow  but  well-beaten  paths. 

I  prefer  to  take  my  readers  at  once  on  excursions  over 
those  less  frequented.  These  journeys  of  several  hundred 
miles  have  been  chiefly  accomplished  on  horseback,  by  which 
pleasant  and  exhilarating  method  of  travelling  we  were  enabled 
to  see  more  of  the  country,  and  to  form  more  correct  ideas  of  its 
peculiar  people,  than  by  observation  in  any  other  way. 

My  wife  and  myself  were  every  where  hospitably  entertained 
in  a  region  which  fortunately  for  our  purpose  was  generally  with- 
out hotels.  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  remark,  that  as  ladies  are 
more  communicative  with  each  other  than  with  a  sex  less  accus- 


THE  GREA T  SALT  LAKE.  j y g 

tomed  to  questions  and  answers,  there  were  unsurpassed  opportu- 
nities for  obtaining  information  of  domestic  affairs. 

It  would  certainly  have  been  impolitic  and  ungracious  on 
our  part  to  have  undertaken  missionary  work.  When  the  sub- 
ject of  polygamy  was  introduced  by  our  hosts,  we  did  not  fail  to 
accept  the  challenge  to  dispassionate  argument,  but  our  object 
being  to  investigate,  rather  than  to  instruct,  we  looked  upon  so- 
ciety as  we  found  it,  extracting  all  the  amusement  it  afforded. 

Without  more  preface,  we  will  leave  the  city  on  a  pleasant 
day  about  the  close  of  September,  and  as  we  travel  west  and 
south  will  see  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  the  mountains,  the  valleys, 
the  mines,  and  the  people. 

The  distance  from  Salt  Lake  City  to  Ophir  canon  is  fifty- 
five  miles.  When  the  Utah  Western  Railroad  is  completed  as 
far  as  contemplated,  this  will  be  one  of  the  most  agreeable  ex- 
cursions from  the  city.  It  was  a  tedious,  dusty  drive  in  the  stage- 
coach. Still,  there  are  many  pleasant  views  to  be  had  from  the 
road,  passing  across  long  desert  wastes  and  over  spurs  of  the 
mountain  range.  We  reached  the  shores  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake 
after  a  drive  of  three  hours.  Such  is  the  optical  illusion  caused  by 
this  rarified  atmosphere,  that  the  city,  left  eighteen  miles  behind 
us,  seemed  to  be  only  four  or  five  miles  distant,  the  houses  being 
distinctly  visible.  The  formation  of  the  land  contributes  to  this 
deception,  ridges  of  mountains  running  north  and  south,  and  en- 
closing valleys  of  a  width  of  about  twenty-five  miles,  with  no  in- 
tervening elevations.  We  drove  for  an  hour  along  the  southern 
bank  of  Salt  Lake,  fanned  by  the  breath  of  its  sea  air,  and  look- 
ing over  its  waste  of  waters  dotted  with  mountain  islands.  It 
required  but  little  imagination  to  transport  ourselves  to  the 
shores  of  the  Atlantic,  for  extending,  as  it  does,  ninety  miles  to 
the  north,  no  land  could  be  seen  beyond  the  line  of  the  clearly 


180  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

defined  horizon.  Some  years  ago  a  steamboat  of  three  hundred 
tons  was  built  for  freight  and  passenger  traffic,  in  connection 
with  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific  roads  ;  but  her  fair  prospects 
were  ruined  by  the  construction  of  the  Utah  Central,  and  she 
now  lies  at  the  wharf,  her  only  value  consisting  in  her  occasional 
use  for  pleasure  excursions. 

How  this  great  basin  of  salt  water  came  to  be  deposited  in 
the  interior  of  the  continent,  has  been  a  study  for  geographers 
and  naturalists.  The  changes  taking  place  in  its  character 
at  the  present  day  are  observed  with  much  interest.  It  was 
first  discovered  by  a  party  of  trappers,  long  before  the  relig- 
ious discovery  of  Joseph  Smith.  When  they  had  tasted  of  its 
waters  they  supposed  that  it  was  an  arm  of  the  sea  coming  in 
from  the  Gulf  of  California ;  but,  on  their  attempt  to  sail  into  the 
Pacific  by  that  route,  they  experienced  the  same  disappointment 
which  befell  the  Dutchmen  in  their  exploration  of  the  North 
River,  although  they  might  have  been  led  to  just  conclusions  from 
different  tests. 

The  trappers  should  have  realized  that  the  water  was  too 
salt,  and  the  Dutchmen  should  have  found  that  the  water  was  too 
fresh  to  communicate  with  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Salt-making  has  been  a  business  of  great  importance  on  the 
banks  of  the  lake  since  the  occupation  of  this  territory  by  the 
Mormons.  The  water  is  so  densely  saline  that  it  is  impossible 
for  a  body  to  find  the  bottom.  It  is  a  capital  place  to  acquire 
the  art  of  swimming,  with  perfect  safety.  In  former  times  three 
barrels  of  water  left  to  evaporate,  would  produce  one  barrel 
of  salt ;  but  it  has  so  weakened  in  the  last  twenty  years  that 
four  barrels  of  it  are  now  required  to  obtain  that  quantity.  It 
has  become  fresh,  therefore,  in  a  proportion  of  somewhat  more 
than  one  per  cent,  yearly.     Hence  it  follows  that  in  less  than 


THE  GREA T  SALT  LAKE.  \ 8 1 

one  hundred  years  the  name  of  Great  Salt  Lake  should  be 
changed,  for  by  that  time,  it  will,  like  Mormonism,  be  cleared  of 
all  its  impurities. 

We  notice  the  regular  water  lines,  called  benches,  dis- 
tinctly defined  on  all  the  mountain  ranges  surrounding  these 
valleys,  affording  unmistakable  evidence  that  in  former  days  they 
enclosed  vast  inland  seas.  The  deep  alkaline  soil  of  the  bot- 
toms has  led  to  the  supposition  that  these  seas  were  of  salt 
water,  and  that  they  have  been  completely  evaporated,  Salt  Lake 
being  the  sole  survivor,  and  that  destined  to  dwindle  to  a 
puddle  and  then  to  dry  up  forever.  But  the  last  part  of  this 
theory  is  negatived  by  the  evident  intention  of  the  lake  to  as- 
sume something  of  its  original  proportions ;  while  it  is  becom- 
ing fresher,  it  is  growing  larger.  Within  the  twenty-nine  years 
that  the  country  around  it  has  been  settled,  it  has  encroached 
along  its  low  banks  nearly  a  mile  upon  the  land,  and  deepened 
five  feet.  Several  fine  farms  are  now  permanently  under  water, 
and  the. road  on  which  we  travelled  has  been  moved  far  inward 
to  accommodate  its  aggressiveness.  At  the  same  time  that  this 
change  is  going  on,  atmospheric  causes  for  a  part  of  it  are  ap- 
parent. The  climate  is  becoming  more  mild,  although  it  is  still 
excessively  dry.  But  each  succeeding  season  brings  a  greater 
rainfall.     This  has  doubled  within  twelve  years. 

The  lake  is  fed  by  the  Bear  and  Weber  rivers  on  the  north, 
and  the  Jordan  on  the  south,  besides  some  small  rivulets  that 
find  their  way  into  it.  Every  year  their  volumes  increase,  and 
contribute  to  the  filling  up  of  the  great  basi'n  into  which  they 
pour.  Notwithstanding,  the  increase  of  the  lake  cannot  be 
thus  accounted  for,  as  they  are  still  but  insignificant  streams. 
It  must  be  true  that  new  fresh-water  fountains  have  burst 
from  the  bottom.      A  like  phenomenon  has  produced  the  lake 


iS2  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

near  which  we  afterward  passed  at  Stockton,  where,  on  the 
ground  encamped  upon  by  Connor's  army,  there  is  now  a 
body  of  water  two  miles  square,  and  of  considerable  depth.  If 
these  changes  go  on  as  they  have  commenced,  the  Zion  of  Brig- 
ham  Young  will  ere  long  become  completely  submerged.  His  en- 
emies will  say  that  a  second  flood  has  been  commissioned  to  over- 
flow the  desert  that  he  reclaimed,  because  of  the  sins  of  the 
people,  and  that,  like  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  these  modern  cities 
of  the  plain  have  been  overwhelmed  as  a  punishment  for  their 
unnatural  crimes.  But  those  judgments  are  yet  afar  off.  Brig- 
ham  taught  that  when  Utah  is  destroyed  all  the  earth  will  perish 
likewise,  excepting  that  favored  spot,  Jackson  county,  Missouri. 
There  it  was,  a  divine  revelation  commanded  him  to  build  a 
temple  which  is  destined  to  rise  again  from  the  ashes  of  the  one 
destroyed  by  the  Nauvoo  mob.  All  the  lowlands  around  it  will 
rise  at  the  same  time,  and  the  chosen  remnant  of  mankind  will 
flock  to  this  elevated  plateau,  from  whence,  like  Noah  looking 
over  the  bulwarks  of  the  ark,  they  will  behold  the  drowning 
Gentiles  struggling  in  the  deep  waters,  while  Mormons,  in  dry 
white  robes,  with  harps  in  their  hands,  shall,  like  Nero,  touch 
the  strings,  in  mockery  at  the  ruin  of  the  universe.  Then  Jack- 
son county  itself  is  to  be  caught  up,  and  its  glorified  saints  be 
distributed  among  the  stars  of  the  firmament.  Thus  the 
gradual  rise  of  Salt  Lake  is  not  an  indication  of  their  destruc- 
tion, but  a  harbinger  of  their  glory. 

Leaving  Salt  Lake  far  behind,  our  way  led  over  the  spur  of 
the  Oquirrh  ridge,  which  there  terminates  and  forms  the  eastern 
boundary  of  Tooele  valley.  Soon  after  dining  at  a  wretched 
"half-way  "  house,  we  came  in  sight  of  the  pretty  little  town  of 
Tooele,  that  springs  into  life  by  the  side  of  a  mountain  stream- 
which   enriches  it  by  its  irrigation,  and  presents  it  in  beautiful 


ELECTIONS.  ^3 

contrast  with  the  surrounding  desert.  It  is  not  like  a  town  laid 
out  in  blocks  and  squares,  but  is  literally  an  accumulation  of 
garden  spots.  The  trees  and  vines  were  loaded  with  apples, 
pears,  peaches,  melons,  and  grapes,  which  are  dried  and  pre- 
served for  use  and  exportation.  Entering  one  of  the  gardens, 
we  were  offered  an  abundance  of  the  delicious  produce.  The 
peaches  were  large  and  luscious — quite  equal  in  flavor  to  those 
gathered  on  the  Delaware. 

This  little  village,  now  so  peaceful  and  quiet,  was  lately  the 
scene  of  intense  political  excitement.  The  election  quarrels  at 
Tooele  have  not  related  to  Republicanism  or  Democracy.  Such 
trifling  issues  did  not  affect  votes  in  any  degree.  The  great 
question  was,  shall  Judge  Rowberry,  the  Mormon  bishop,  who 
for  years  had  presided  at  the  Probate  Court,  retain  his  office,  or 
shall  the  Gentile  Brown  occupy  his  place?  In  short,  it  was  a 
religious  fight.  Bunyan's  "  Holy  War  "  and  Milton's  "  Paradise 
Lost"  can  only  convey  an  idea  of  the  fury  of  the  battle.  Mor- 
mon hosts  were  marshalled  against  the  Gentile  cohorts,  the  one 
considering  themselves  the  armies  of  the  Lord,  and  the  others- 
willing  to  be  called  the  soldiers  of  Lucifer,  so  that  they  might 
gain  the  victory.  Mormonism  pressed  every  man  and  woman 
into  its  service,  and  the  Gentile  element  ransacked  all  the  min- 
ing camps  of  the  country  for  its  supplies.  It  was  Lowlander 
against  Highlander — the  saints  dwelling  on  the  plains  against 
the  irreverent  "cusses  "  of  the  mountains,  who  had  invaded  the 
soil  heretofore  sacred  to  the  religion  of  the  prophet.  It  was 
the  first  organized  attempt  to  gain  a  Gentile  foothold  in  any  part 
of  the  territory.  The  means  used  for  the  assault  were  as  unscru- 
pulous as  those  wielded  for  the  defence.  A  federal  official 
descended  from  his  dignity  to  mingle  in  the  broil,  threatening, 
when  he  was  interrupted  in  his  speech,  to  "punch  the  head"  of 


1 84  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

his  assailant,  and  to  "boot  out  "  the  county  clerk  if.  he  did  not 
"  dry  up."  Parson  Smith,  of  the  Methodist  persuasion,  is  such 
a  muscular  Christian  that  when  he  was  damned  by  some  devout 
Mormons,  he  replied  that  he  was  not  allowed  to  swear,  but, 
throwing  off  his  coat,  said  he  "would  lick  the  whole  crowd, 
three  at  a  time."  Per  contra,  in  a  rather  more  quiet  style  of 
warfare,  when  they  found  the  election  was  going  against  them, 
the  Mormon  judge  and  his  clerk  carried  off  the  records  of  the 
court,  which  were  not  recovered  without  much  difficulty. 

There  was  doubtless  a  great  deal  of  illegal  voting  on  both 
sides,  from  Mormon  women  who  paid  no  taxes,  and  from  Gentile 
miners  who  constituted  themselves  residents  of  two  or  three 
different  camps  at  the  same  time.  The  end  attained  was  a  Gen- 
tile victory. 

Like  travellers  on  Sahara,  we  had  espied  the  green  oasis  of 
Tooele  from  afar.  We  had  entered  beneath  its  shady  trees  and 
luxuriated  in  its  fruitful  gardens,  and  now,  leaving  it  regretfully 
behind,  we  were  whirled  through  clouds  of  dust,  over  the 
desert  again.  All  was  a  barren  waste  of  stunted  sage  brush  and 
alkali,  till  after  three  hours'  drive  we  came  to  the  Gentile  set- 
tlement of  Stockton,  presenting  itself  in  strong  contrast  to  the 
charming  little  village  of  the  saints.  There  the  people,  having 
planted  their  own  vines  and  fig  trees,  were  content  to  sit  down 
beneath  them  and  enjoy  their  fruits,  with  no  ambitious  desire 
of  aggrandizement ;  satisfied  with  the  sure  returns  of  hus- 
bandry, from  which,  after  paying  their  tithing  to  the  church, 
there  is  an  abundance  left  to  supply  all  the  absolute  wants  of 
life.  Tooele  is  a  picture  of  happiness,  if  not  the  realization  of 
what  can  never  be  fully  attained  ;  Stockton  seemed  a  represen- 
tation of  misery  sought  for  and  found. 

Pitched  on  one  of  the  bleakest  spots  that  could  be  selected, 


OPHIR  CAMP.  185 

where  no  trees  can  take  root,  and  scarcely  a  sage  brush  can  show 

its  head,  built  of  rambling  piles  of  logs,  the  only  exception  an 

abortive  frame-house  called  a  hotel,  where  bad  dinners  are  eaten 

and  worse  liquors  are  quaffed,  it  is  the  home  of  a  few  workmen, 

who  are  employed  in  the  neighboring  furnaces  of  ore.     What 

wages  these  men  earn  to  repay  them  for  passing  any  part  of  their 

existence  in  this  execrable  hole  I  do  not  know,  but  I  am  sure 

that  a  Tooele  Mormon  would  not  exchange  his  home  for  this, 

unless  some  special  "  exaltation  "  be   promised   in   the  world  to 

come. 

Passing  the  lake  of  recent  formation,  we  drove  on  toward  Ophir. 

From    the    level   of  Salt    Lake   our   ascent   had   been    gradual. 

Over  what  appeared  to  be  vast  plains,  the  grade   was  scarcely 

discernible,    but  now  it  was   quite    apparent    as   we   drew  on 

toward  the  foot  hills  of  the  range  looming  up  gradually  before 

us. 

The  sun  had  been  pouring  hotly  clown  all  day,  and  it  was  an 
inexpressible  relief  and  pleasure  when  we  entered  the  mouth  of 
the  canon,  and  the  first  tall  cliff  on  the  left  threw  its  shadow 
over  our  path,  permitting  us  to  trace  its  dark  outlines  on  the 
opposite  mountain,  whose  summit  was  still  in  a  blaze  of  bright- 
ness. In  this  delightful  coolness  of  evening  below,  under  the 
light  of  sunshine  from  above,  we  followed  up  the  canon  for  three 
miles,  and  arrived  at  the  city  of  Ophir. 

Like  all  the  mining  "  cities  "  of  these  mountains,  Ophir  is  a 
mere  camp,  containing  a  few  stores,  bar-rooms,  and  shanties  for 
the  supplies  and  accommodation  of  the  miners,  who  are  mostly 
distributed  in  the  hills,  only  visiting  the  cities  for  their  necessi- 
ties, or  for  the  enjoyment  of  Sunday  after  their  own  fashion. 

One  of  the  buildings  serves  the  purpose  of  city  hall,  lyceum, 
dance-house    and    church,    as    occasion    demands.      The    day 


1 86  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

after  our  arrival  the  pulpit  scaffolding  was  occupied  in  the  morn- 
ing by  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  and  in  the  evening  by  a  Cath- 
olic priest,  both  of  whom  came  in  the  same  coach  from  Salt 
Lake.  When  the  latter  preached,  his  Protestant  brother  aided 
with  us  in  making  up  the  congregation,  numbering  a  little  more 
than  a  dozen.  On  the  previous  evening  the  hall  had  been  crowded 
with  dancers,  who  kept  up  a  hideous  noise  till  morning.  Never- 
theless, it  is  fair  to  say  that  Sunday  was  very  quietly  observed, 
and  there  were  few  cases  of  drunkenness  which  caused  much  dis- 
turbance. 

Ophir  citizens  are  not  church-goers  as  a  class,  but  they  are 
as  tolerant  as  they  are  ignorant  in  religious  matters.  The  other 
Sunday  a  Methodist  clergyman  officiated,  opening  the  services 
by  requesting  them  to  sing  the  hymn  commencing, 

"  O  for  a  closer  walk  with  God." 

After  the  meeting  one  of  the  congregation  thanked  him  for  his 
preaching,  adding  :  "  But,  parson,  you  was  more  comp'mentry 
than  we  deserves.  I  dunno's  Ophir  camp's  any  better'n  the  rest 
of  'em  ;  we  all  walks  a  good  deal  closter  the  other  way." 

Whenever  a  stranger  comes  into  these  camps  he  is  immedi- 
ately encompassed  by  a  crowd  of  kindly  disposed  gentlemen, 
who  are  willing  to  divide  their  interests  in  the  most  promising 
mines,  which  only  require  a  little  of  his  money  for  their  devel- 
opment. They  have  prospects  of  wonderful  "indications,"  "  true 
fissure  veins,"  "  limestone  and  quartzite  formations,"  "  hanging 
and  foot  walls,"  "  carbonate,"  "  chloride,"  and  other  certainties 
of  producing  unlimited  quantities  of  rich  ore,  thousands  of  tons 
of  which  are  frequently  "  in  sight."  They  want  you  to  invest  in 
the  "running  of  tunnels"  and  the  "sinking  of  shafts,"  and  then 
to  "put  the  mine  in  the  market,"  in  New  York  or  London.     As 


SUCCESSFUL  BUSINESS  MEN.  187 

to  "  prospects,"  the  mountains  are  as  full  of  them  as  sandbanks 
are  ever  bored  by  swallows  for  their  nests. 

The  laboring  miners  are  universally  poor.  They  keep  them- 
selves industriously  in  that  condition,  toiling  away  at  their 
"  prospects  "  until  their  flour  and  bacon  give  out,  and  then  work- 
ing by  the  day  in  the  large  mines  until  they  get  money  enough 
to  buy  powder  and  provisions  to  work  on  another  prospect, 
when  they  find  a  "  trace  "  or  "  cropping  out  "  that  affords  them 
any  hope.  They  have  known  or  have  heard  of  a  few  men  who, 
having  "  struck  a  good  thing,"  have  risen  from  a  condition  like 
their  own  to  the  rank  of  millionaires,  and  why  should  not  the 
same  good  fortune  at  last  be  theirs  ?  Instead  of  gambling  with 
dice  and  cards,  they  gamble  with  the  spade  and  pick,  working 
harder  and  gaining  as  little. 

Among  the  thousand  blanks  there  is  occasionally  a  prize. 
The  Walker  brothers  have  drawn  their  full  share.  They  came 
to  Utah  as  members  of  the  Mormon  Church,  toiled  in  the 
canons,  cutting  and  drawing  wood,  gained  a  little  property  in 
this  way,  invested  in  land  and  merchandise,  paying  their  tithing 
with  regularity,  until  they  accumulated  a  property  on  the  income 
of  which  they  did  not  care  to  pay  ten  per  cent.  One  day  they 
were  reminded  of  their  duty  by  Brigham  Young,  and  sent 
him  a  check  for  ten  thousand  dollars.  Brigham  returned  it  with 
a  notice  that  it  was  insufficient,  whereupon  they  tore  it  up,  paid 
tithing  no  longer,  and  left  the  church. 

They  say  the  Lord  has  prospered  them  ever  since.  Brigham 
said  the  devil  was  their  friend.  No  matter  who  has  assisted 
them,  the  Walkers  have  done  something  for  themselves.  Their 
great  warehouses  are  potent  rivals  of  "  Zion's  Co-operative 
Mercantile  Institution,"  and  every  hole  of  ground  into  which 
they  dig  becomes  a  mine  of  wealth.     They  own   them  in  every 


THE  ROUND  TRIP. 


canon,  and  here  in  Ophir  they  reign  supreme.  What  wonder  is 
it  that  poor  men,  who  but  a  few  years  ago  worked  side  by  side 
with  these  Walker  brothers,  should  ask  themselves,  "  As  we, 
have  been  equals  once,  why  should  we  not  be  equals  again  ?  " 


CAMP  FLOYD.  i8q 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Camp  Floyd  Ruled  by  a  Bishop  and  the  BisHOP  Ruled 
by  his  Wife — William  Hickman — Lehi  and  the  Bishop 
who  Ruled  his  Wives  and  his  Diocese — The  Garden 
of  Isaac  Goodwin. 

The  pursuits  of  Utah  people  may  be  classed  like  medicines, 
"  vegetable  "  and  "  mineral."  The  Mormons  are  almost  strictly 
agricultural,  and  the  Gentiles  devote  themselves  almost  univer- 
sally to  mining  labor  and  speculation.  ■  Brigham  encouraged  his 
saints  to  cultivate  the  soil,  and  preached  farming  to  them  as  a 
religious  duty.  The  wisdom  of  his  advice  is  apparent  in  the 
prosperity  attending  its  practice.  They  abandon  the  precarious 
chances  of  the  mines  to  others,  who  too  often,  after  years  of 
unavailing  toil  and  broken  down  with  disease,  are  forced  to 
admit  the  worldly  wisdom  of  the  prophet.  The  entire  attention 
of  the  dwellers  in  the  mountains  is  given  to  silver  mining,  smelt- 
ing and  milling. 

Where  there  is  an  abundance  of  lead  present  in  the  ore — and 
it  frequently  runs  from  forty  to  sixty  per  cent. — the  silver  is 
extracted  by  the  process  of  smelting.  The  furnaces  generally 
purchase  the  rough  mineral  as  it  comes  from  the  mines,  on  a 
basis  of  forty  to  fifty  per  cent,  lead  ;  that  is,  if  the  ore  yield  that 


I  go  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

amount,  the  smelter  takes  it  for  his  work  and  delivers  the 
miner  one  dollar  per  ounce  for  all  the  silver  that  it  contains. 
If  the  basis  agreed  upon  falls  short,  the  miners  pay  the  smelter 
the  difference  per  ton.  If  it  overruns,  the  payment  is  reversed. 
Good  smelting  ore  is  that  which  being  clear  of  pyrites  comes  up 
to  the  basis  required,  and  then  yields  to  the  miner — pays  him 
for  the  cost  of  his  labor  and  transportation — thirty  ounces  of 
silver  to  the  ton. 

Besides  the  mines  of  smelting  ore,  there  are  many  of  milling; 
that  is,  they  produce  a  greater  amount  of  silver  than  some  of  the 
others,  but  so  little  lead  that  the  silver  cannot  be  extracted 
by  the  smelting  process.  It  is  therefore  crushed  in  stamp  mills. 
This  is  milling  ore.  It  is  likewise  mostly  purchased  by  those 
who  convert  it  into  bullion.  The  rate  given  is  nicely  graded 
according  to  the  assay.  The  lowest  ore  which  will  pay  for 
crushing  is  that  yielding  $40  per  ton  ;  on  this  is  returned  twenty- 
five  per  cent.;  on  that  yielding  $100,  fifty  per  cent.  ;  $200,  sixty- 
five  per  cent;  $500,  seventy-nine  per  cent.;  $1,000,  eighty- 
three  per  cent.  These  are  mentioned  to  give  an  idea  of  the 
scale  of  intermediate  assays.  But  expenses  are  very  heavy ; 
charcoal  and  coke  are  the  only  fuels  that  can  be  used  for  smelt- 
ing, the  former  becoming  every  day  more  scarce  in  this  thinly 
wooded  country,  and  coke  has  been  supplied  from  Pittsburgh, 
Pa.,  at  a  cost  of  $30  per  ton.  As  to  the  mills,  there  is  not  a 
sufficiency  of  the  ore  they  require  lo  keep  them  in  operation 
more  than  four  months  in  the  year.  Nevertheless,  when  well 
managed,  smelting  and  milling  both  give  large  profits.  The 
great  requirement  for  Utah  mining,  is  the  proper  fuel  for  smelt- 
ing purposes.  When  this  is  obtained  more  abundantly,  the  low- 
grade  ores,  which  will  not  pay  for  working,  will  give  steady 
employment  to  all  the  furnaces  at  present  partially  operated,  and 


CAMP  FLOYD.  jni 

will  cause  many  more  to  be  profitably  run.  The  railroads  now 
being  rapidly  constructed  in  the  south  and  south-west  will  bring 
coal  cheaply  to  market.  Some  of  this,  especially  that  from 
San  Pete,  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  Salt  Lake,  it  is 
claimed,  can  be  coked,  but  owing  to  the  quantity  of  sulphur  it 
contains,  the  experiments  thus  far  have  not  been  entirely  satis- 
factory. We  spent  a  day  in  climbing  the  mountains  on  horse- 
back and  on  foot,  with  the  purpose  of  looking  at  some  of  the 
mines  on  the  summit  of  Zion  mountain.  At  an  almost  perpen- 
dicular height  of  twenty-five  hundred  feet  above  the  village,  and 
consequently  eleven  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  is 
a  mine  owned  by  the  Walker  Brothers,  which  they  work  to  sup- 
ply the  demands  of  their  mill,  getting  out  yearly,  without  any 
special  development,  the  interest  on  the  sum  of  $1,500,000,  the 
price  at  which  they  offer  to  sell  this  property.  As  we  wound  up 
the  mountain  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  valley  to  a  still  higher 
point,  we  looked  down  upon  their  extensive  works  and  tramways, 
on  which  the  ore  slides  to  the  mills. 

Our  trail  led  first  to  Dry  Canon,  to  arrive  at  which  we  passed 
through  Jacob  City.  This  city,  not  "  set  upon  a  hill,"  but  hang- 
ing like  a  collection  of  crows'  nests  on  the  side  of  a  mountain, 
cannot  be  approached  on  wheels.  Sure-footed  horses  and  mules 
are  rather  doubtful  of  their  foothold  in  its  streets  paved  with 
boulders  and  drained  by  the  gully  of  a  torrent.  If  heavy  rains 
should  swell  the  stream,  as  they  are  liable  to  do,  or  an  avalanche 
of  snow,  which  every  winter  threatens,  should  descend,  the  flimsy 
structures  of  Jacob  City  would  fly  into  the  abyss  below, 
like  a  pile  of  shingles  before  the  storm.  Precarious  indeed  is 
the  existence  of  the  capital  of  Dry  Canon.  As  we  ascend,  we 
see  on  the  left  the  celebrated  "  Mono  "  mine,  one  half  of  which 
has  been  sold  for  $400,000.     We  met  Mr.  Gisborne,  who  owns 


ig2  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

the  other  half.  The  net  income  of  the  mine  is  said  to  average 
$60,000  per  month.  When  we  looked  at  Mr.  Gisborne,  living  in 
Jacob  City,  clothed  in  a  shabby  suit  that  at  most  could  not  have 
cost  twenty  dollars,  smoking  a  cigar  made  far  away  from  Cuba, 
and  all  his  surroundings  betokening  a  man  in  debt  for  his  last 
meal,  we  asked  ourselves,  what  is  the  use  to  him  of  an  income 
of  $360,000  per  year  ?  A  little  boy  once  wished  he  was  a  king, 
for  "then  he  would  swing  on  a  gate  all  day  and  lick 'lasses." 
We  perhaps  would  do  something  similar  if  we  had  the  income  of 
Mr.  Gisborne.  We  would  buy  a  house  on  the  Fifth  avenue, 
loaf  about  the  streets  of  New  York,  visit  the  clubs,-  and  do  noth- 
ing. We  would  have  the  dyspepsia  and  die  of  ennui.  I  appre- 
hend that  Mr.  Gisborne  values  his  immense  fortune  only  as  a 
proof  of  his  success  as  a  business  man,  and  is  far  happier  in  his 
mountain  life,  in  exuberant  health,  than  he  would  find  himself  if 
he  followed  any  bad  advice  that  we  might  give  him. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  valley  is  the  scarcely  less  noted 
Chicago  mine.  There  we  dismounted  and  descended  a  shaft 
hundreds  of  feet,  through  tunnels  and  drifts,  dropping  down 
on  ladders,  crawling  on  all  fours  through  damp  caverns,  as  we 
carried  lighted  candles  in  our  hands.  Here  we  saw  the  ore, 
deep  buried  for  ages,  now  to  be  excavated,  smelted,  refined, 
coined  and  made  into  wealth  for  the  luxury  of  those  who  will 
never  see  and  pity,  as  we  have  done,  the  hard  toil  by  which 
it  is  obtained.  A  very  productive  property  in  the  mountains 
is  a  beautiful  spring  of  water,  running  in  a  small  stream  over  a 
great  cliff  of  a  thousand  feet,  descending  in  thin  spray  to 
an  unapproachable  chasm.  The  proprietor  located  this  claim, 
and  there  he  has  established  himself  for  the  sale  of  all  the  water 
on  the  mountain  \  for  it  is  only  after  the  melting  of  the  snows 
that,  for  a  short  time,  the  watercourses  are  known  in  this  "  Dry 


CAMP  FLOYD.  ^3 

Canon."  There  is  no  drilling  or  blasting  needed  to  produce 
wealth  for  this  fortunate  man.  He  sells  the  water  for  two  and  a 
half  cents  per  gallon,  realizing  thousands  of  dollars  annually 
without  the  outlay  of  a  penny.  The  "  Mono  "  and  the  "  Chi- 
cago "  may  give  out,  but  the  spring  is  not  likely  to  dry  up. 

Leaving  our  horses  at  a  place  where  their  further  progress 
was  impracticable,  we  jDroceeded  on  foot,  often  swinging 
by  our  arms  from  one  craggy  rock  to  another,  over  the  topmost 
ridge,  to  survey  some  prospects  in  which  the  gentlemen  who 
accompanied  us  were  interested.  The  location  of  a  "  prospect  " 
is  determined  by  various  indications,  the  chief  of  which  is  the 
presence  of  a  yellow  ochre-colored  dust.  This  leads  to  "  crop- 
pings,"  the  ore  on  the  surface  containing  mineral.  These 
"croppings  "  afford  encouragement  for  the  miner  to  sink  a  shaft, 
upon  which  he  works  nine  times  out  of  ten  without  success. 
We  return  to  the  place  where  our  horses  had  been  left,  and 
mounting  them  again,  rode  over  the  divide  above  the  Chicago 
mine  to  the  side  of  the  mountain  sloping  down  toward  Ophir. 

If  we  could  have  taken  passage  in  a  balloon,  or  held  on  to 
the  tail  of  a  kite,  we  might  have  mounted  to  the  top  of  the  per- 
pendicular cliff  above  the  village  of  Ophir,  and  dropped  down 
on  the  other  side  to  the  settlement  of  Camp  Floyd  in  Salt  Lake 
valley  ;  but,  until  atrial  navigation  is  more  advanced,  a  stage 
wagon  performs  the  mail  and  passenger  service  between  these 
towns  along  the  road  over  the  foot  hills,  making  a  circuit  of 
eighteen  miles. 

It  was  a  delightful  drive,  for,  as  we  were  hurried  away  at  an 
early  hour,  the  sun,  rising  out  of  sight  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  mountains,  had  barely  reached  their  summits  before  we  had 
completed  this  first  stage  of  our  journey,  so  "he  road  lay 
under   the    shadows,    while    far    away    in    the    west    was  the 

*3 


I94  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

view  of  gilded  peaks  gradually  brightening  to  their  base,  and 
the  sunlight  came  step  by  step  over  the  plains  to  meet  us, 
till  the  dazzling  sun  himself  mounted  to  the  crest  on  our  left, 
and  poured  around  us  the  full  blaze  of  day.  By  this 
time  we  had  nearly  approached  Camp  Floyd,  once  the  location 
of  a  military  post,  but  now  a  little  Mormon  village,  where  all 
vestiges  of  its  former  occupation  have  given  place  to  cultivated 
fields  and  orchards. 

Bishop  Carter  presides  over  the  spiritual  interests  of  the 
people,  his  office  also  giving  him  the  right  to  counsel  them  in 
temporal  matters,  in  accordance  with  the  recognized  authority 
of  the  priesthood.  It  is  a  grave  cause  of  complaint  against  the 
Mormons  that  they  do  not  encourage  the  presence  of  any  of  the 
three  learned  professions.  Unless  the  town  is  unusually  large, 
the  bishop  is  able  not  only  to  do  the  preaching,  but  to  settle  all 
disputes  and  to  cure  all  ordinary  diseases,  by  "  the  laying  on  of 
hands,"  quite  as  effectively  as  they  are  treated  by  the  adminis- 
tration of  drugs.  It  is  only  in  cases  that  require  the  prompt 
services  of  a  surgeon  that  he  is  forced  to  admit  the  inadequacy 
of  his  spiritual  power. 

Bishop  Carter,  who  rules  supreme  over  all  other  households 
in  Camp  Floyd,  we  were  told  had  lately  found  that  laying  on  of 
hands  has  not  acted  well  in  his  own  case.  He  was  originally, 
as  he  is  now,  a  monogamist.  But  not  long  ago  he  saw  fit  to 
have  a  revelation  commanding  him  to  take  another  wife.  Mrs. 
Carter  did  not  see  the  angel  who  brought  the  message,  for  that 
angel  was  careful  to  avoid  her.  The  bishop,  however,  trusting 
in  divine  protection,  went  up  to  Salt  Lake  "  on  business,"  and 
returned  in  the  evening  with  another  woman.  It  was  then  that 
he  experienced  an  effectual  laying  on  of  hands,  and  Mrs.  Carter 
No.  2  felt  the  laying  on  of  a  broomstick.     Feminine  muscular 


WILLIAM  HICKMAN.  i95 

Christianity  prevailed  over  spiritual  enforcement,  and  the  bishop 
was  made  to  realize  that  the  power  of  a  determined  woman  is 
one  that  cannot  be  withstood  by  a  Mormon  any  more  successfully 
than  by  a  Gentile.  The  difficulty  was  settled  by  the  bishop's 
marrying  No.  2  after  all — to  another  man.  Mrs.  Carter  keeps 
a  very  excellent  hotel,  the  breakfast  provided  for  our  company 
evincing  that,  as  far  as  the  travelling  public  are  concerned,  the 
lady  at  the  head  of  the  house  is  able  to  meet  all  their  require- 
ments, as  well  as  those  of  her  husband,  alone. 

The  distance  from  Camp  Floyd  to  Lehi  is  eighteen  miles. 
As  we  drove  out  of  the  town  the  driver  pointed  to  a  seedy-look- 
ing vagabond,  apparently  sixty  years  of  age,  who  was  walking 
slowly  along,  smoking  his  morning  pipe.  The  expression  of  his 
countenance  was  truly  diabolical,  and  betokened  a  scoundrel 
whose  society  one  would  instinctively  avoid.  This  was  the 
notorious  Bill  Hickman,  whose  residence  is  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. 

Why  the  fiend  is  permitted  to  live  is  a  mystery.  His  confes- 
sions of  bloody  deeds,  if  true,  should  expose  him  to  the  ven- 
geance of  Gentiles  whose  friends  he  has  slain  ;  if  false,  the  won- 
der is  that  he  is  not  riddled  by  Mormon  bullets.  It  is  a  mark 
of  the  astonishing  forbearance  of  this  people  that,  believing  him 
to  be  a  malignant  liar,  they  allow  him  to  go  about  the  country 
unmolested ;  and  the  only  accountable  reason  for  his  safety 
from  the  wrath  of  the  Gentiles  is,  that  they  hope  at  some  future 
day  to  use  him  as  a  witness  to  prove  the  murders  committed 
by  him  at  the  bidding  of  the  church.  But  the  troubled  con- 
science of  the  desperado  is  never  at  ease.  He  must  have 
revelations,  and  terrible  ones  too ;  he  must  have  angel  visits  at 
night,  for  the  angels  of  darkness  must  hover  around  his  unquiet 
bed,  and  hell  must  yawn  at  its  side.     He  walks  the  streets  by 


196  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

day  armed  with  two  revolvers  and  a  belt  of  cartridges,  looking 
furtively  about  him  to  see  if  some  avenger  is  not  nigh.  He 
steeps  his  damning  memory  in  rum,  yet  dares  not  drink  him- 
self totally  insensible,  lest,  if  found  dead  drunk  away  from 
home,  he  should  never  wake  again.  So  fearful  is  he  of  a 
surprise  that  he  never  enters  a  bar-room  where  other  men 
are  present  without  standing  with  his  back  to  the  bar  when 
the  liquor  is  poured  out  for  him.  And  thus  he  lives  in  a  con- 
tinual hell. 

Happily  he  soon  passed  out  of  our  minds,  as  after  a  short 
drive  across  the  plains  we  came  to  a  slight  elevation,  from  which, 
in  the  distance,  we  could  see  the  pretty  town  of  Lehi,  not 
far  from  the  northern  bank  of  Utah  Lake.  The  lake  extends 
in  a  southerly  direction  twenty  miles,  and  is  five  or  six  miles 
wide,  its  western  limit  washing  the  foot  of  the  Wasatch  moun 
tain. 

It  is  of  fresh  water,  and  contains  an  abundance  of  trout  and 
other  fish.  Its  outlet  is  the  Jordan  river,  a  narrow  but  deep  and 
sluggish  stream,  connecting  it  with  Great  Salt  Lake,  forty  miles 
north.  Far  away  to  the  south  stretched  the  glassy  lake,  reflect- 
ing the  noonday  sun  ;  the  rugged  mountains  its  background,  and 
the  town,  sheltered  in  the  foliage  of  fruitful  orchards,  fringing  its 
northern  edge.  Lehi  is  a  much  larger  settlement  than  Camp 
Floyd,  and  contains  1,500  inhabitants  under  the  paternal 
care  of  Bishop  Evans,  to  whom  we  had  been  commended  as 
willing  to  provide  us  with  better  accommodations  than  those 
at  the  little  hotel. 

The  Bishop  is  a  jolly  old  Pennsylvania!!,  who  came  to  this 
territory  many  years  ago,  and  has  contributed  his  share  to  in- 
crease its  population,  not  being  under  such  salutary  restraint  as 
his  brother  Carter.     His  No.    1    being  dead,   No.  2   has  been 


LEHI.  ig7 

advanced  to  the  rank  of  chief  mate,  six  more  of  his  female  crew 
living  in  cabins  of  their  own.  He  was  very  communicative  on 
family  matters.  He  evidently  regarded  No.  2  as  the  most  val- 
uable wife,  on  account  of  her  producing  qualities.  "  I  ought  to 
have  more  children  than  I  have,"  he  said.  "Why,  I  should  have 
quite  a  family  if  all  the  rest  of  them  kept  up  with  her.  She  has 
had  fifteen,  and  all  the  others  together  have  not  had  but  twenty- 
four." 

Discoursing  upon  matrimony  in  general,  he  observed  that  he 
considered  all  Gentile  forms  null  and  void.  "  But,"  he  added, 
"  I  wouldn't  take  a  woman  that  belonged  to  a  Gentile,  because  I 
consider  it  mean.  I  don't  justify  Parley  Pratt  in  having  done 
it — no — I  want  to  avoid  even  the  appearance  of  evil."  The 
self-complacency  of  this  prelate  was  something  of  the  sublime, 
as  he  continued,  "  No,  I  would  not  take  such  a  woman  even  if 
she  asked  me  to,  as  these  others  did." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say,  bishop,"  asked  my  astonished  wife, 
surveying  the  unctuous  pluralist,  "  that  these  women  ask  for  the 
privilege  of  marrying  you  ?  "  "  Yes,  ma'am,"  he  replied,  with 
some  hesitation  ;  "  three  of  'em  went  for  me  straight,  and  the 
rest  of  'em  hung  round  gitten  me  to  ask  'em." 

In  this  way  did  the  garrulous  old  fellow  go  on  until  we  were 
glad  to  be  shown  to  our  room.  We  had  no  reason  to  complain 
of  our  bed  and  board,  nor  of  the  attentions  of  No.  2,  who  man- 
ifested her  interest  in  our  welfare  by  shouting,  as  we  left  in  the 
wagon,  to  be  driven  by  our  host  to  the  station  after  breakfast, 
"  Look  out  now  for  the  bishop  ;  after  all  what  he  said  last  night, 
remember  the  more  men  have  the  more  they  want.  When  a 
man  has  one  wife  he's  tolerably  well  satisfied  ;  but  when  he  gets 
another  he  keeps  going  on,  and  there's  no  knowing  where  he'll 
stop." 


I98  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

Lehi  is  upon  the  Utah  Southern  Railroad,  thirty-one  miles 
south  of  Salt  Lake  City.  Here  we  had  arranged  to  meet  a 
party  of  friends,  who  were  to  leave  the  town  in  the  morning  train, 
and  accompany  us  on  a  visit  to  the  American  Fork  Canon.  To 
while  away  the  time  before  they  should  arrive,  we  sauntered 
about  the  neighborhood  of  the  station,  under  the  shade  trees 
of  the  wide  streets,  and  looked  with  longing  eyes  upon  the  fruit- 
ful orchards  surrounding  almost  every  house. 

Entering  a  gate,  and  asking  if  the  owner  of  the  premises 
would  sell  a  few  peaches,  we  were  met  by  a  plump  refusal. 
"No,"  replied  an  elderly  man,  "but  you  can  take  as  many  as 
you  please.  Come  in  and  let  me  show  you  my  garden."  A 
second  invitation  was  not  needed,  although  it  was  extended  with 
equal  cordiality  by  his  wife.  The  garden  was  what  is  called  a 
double  lot.  It  comprised  two  and  one-half  acres  of  ground, 
every  foot  of  which,  except  the  walks,  was  under  complete  culti- 
vation. Nothing  can  exceed  the  richness  of  this  soil,  irrigated 
at  pleasure  from  the  mountain  streams.  Although  subject  to 
grasshopper  visitations  and  the  like  casualties,  a  drought  is 
never  apprehended,  for  that  is  impossible. 

Mr.  Isaac  Goodwin,  who  so  kindly  entertained  us,  was  a  Con- 
necticut farmer,  but  has  lived  here  for  twenty-eight  years.  He 
was  an  earlier  Mormon  than  any  of  the  first  settlers  of  Utah,  for 
he  was  a  California  pioneer.  The  little  band  of  321  pilgrims,  of 
which  he  was  one,  that  sailed  in  the  ship  Brooklyn  from  New 
York  for  San  Francisco,  landed  there  in  July,  1846.  This  was 
two  years  before  the  discovery  of  the  gold  that  brought  such  a 
different  class  of  pilgrims  to  worship  at  its  shrine.  The  Mormon 
settlers  formed  the  colony  of  San  Bernardino  already  described, 
then,  like  Utah,  a  part  of  the  Mexican  territory. 

Mr.    Goodwin   gave    us   many  interesting  reminiscences  of 


THE  GARDEN  OF  ISAAC  GOODWIN.  Igg 

their  early  sufferings  and  privations,  and  of  their  final  success  in 
acquiring,  by  peaceful  overtures,  the  friendship  of  the  Indians 
whom  the  Mormons  have  always  had  a  peculiar  tact  in  concilia- 
ting. If  gold  had  not  been  discovered,  if  the  Mexican  war  had 
not  supervened,  if  Brigham's  revelations  had  not  induced  him  to 
order  the  colony  to  break  up  and  remove  to  Utah,  we  should 
have  seen  at  this  day  what  an  empire  these  indomitable  enthu- 
siasts would  have  obtained  in  a  country  where  nature  did  not 
oppose  such  obstacles  as  they  have  here  overcome.  No  railroad 
would  have  approached  them  or  ridden  over  them  rough-shod, 
but  they  would  have  been  allowed  to  work  out  the  problem  of 
their  distinct  civilization  unmolested  in  their  freedom  of  action. 

But  Providence  determined  that  they  could  be  put  to  abetter 
use  here  in  paving  the  way  for  a  higher  civilization  than  their 
own.  Goodwin  was  the  man  who,  with  only  one  companion, 
travelled  across  the  continent,  successfully  braving  natural  obsta- 
cles and  hostile  Indians,  until  they  met  Brigham  Young  on  the 
eastern  slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  told  him  of  the  fer- 
tility of  the  soil  of  California.  It  was  by  his  report  Brigham 
was  induced  to  act  in  accordance  with  his  revelation,  as  the 
Mormons  believe,  but,  as  we  are  inclined  to  think,  from  the  con- 
viction that  he  would  not  be  allowed  to  remain  there.  Their 
first  settlement  here  proved  of  the  greatest  advantage  in  aiding 
emigrants  to  cross  the  plains  in  the  earlier  days  of  the  occupa- 
tion of  California,  and  subsequently  in  the  construction  of  the 
Union  and  Central  Pacific  Railroads,  which  have  bound  them  in 
the  embrace  of  our  common  country. 

We  are  fond  of  listening  to  the  tales  of  these  gray  fathers  of 
the  land,  especially  when,  as  coming  from  such  a  one,  they  bear 
the  impress  of  unquestionable  truth.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
sagacity  and  general  information — a    New   Englander   imbued 


200  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

with  those  Puritan  principles  that  make  martyrdom  an  absolute 
pleasure.  Yet,  like  all  who  come  here  from  that  section,  his  faith 
in  Mormonism  is  not  exceeded  by  that  of  the  most  ignorant 
and  superstitious  Dane  or  Norwegian. 

As  Mr.  Goodwin  talked,  we  supplied  ourselves  abundantly 
with  peaches,  plums  and  grapes.  Still  waiting,  not  impatiently, 
for  the  train,  we  entered  the  tidy  little  cottage,  where  the  pro- 
prietor and  his  only  wife  devoted  themselves  still  further  to  our 
entertainment.  "  I  have  a  kingdom  of  my  own,"  said  he,  "  with- 
out going  into  polygamy :  this  old  lady,  seven  children,  and 
thirty-three  grandchildren.  I  believe  in  the  doctrine  for  those 
who  like  it,  but  God  never  required  it  of  me.  Matrimony  is  a 
'straight  and  narrow  path.'  I  like  to  go  it  alone.  Now  you 
hang  a  plummet  down  from  the  wall  and  let  it  drop  between  two 
women.  Each  of  them  will  say  it  swings  nearer  the  other  one 
than  toward  her.  I  might  be  straight  up  and  down  like  that 
plummet,  and  though  the  women  mightn't  say  any  thing,  both  of 
them  would  think  I  was  leaning  the  wrong  way  from  her.  So 
much  for  two  women.  Now  hang  yourself  like  a  plummet  in  a 
circle  of  half  a  dozen,  and  then  you  can  make  some  calculation 
what  kind  of  a  time  you  would  have  through  life." 

Thus  within  the  last  two  days  we  have  seen  three  different 
representations  of  matrimony.  Bishop  Carter  is  a  monogamist 
because  he  dare  not  open  the  door  to  another  woman  ;  Bishop 
Evans  is  a  pluralist  because  he  likes  polygamy,  although  he  says 
the  seven  women  will  cleave  unto  him  whether  he  wants  them  or 
not ;  and  good,  honest,  straight  and  narrow-walking  Isaac  Good- 
win gets  along  through  the  world  in  peace  and  contentment  with 
only  one  wife,  because  he  loves  her  too  well  to  take  another. 
Let  those  of  troubled  conscience  at  home,  who  think  that  "no 
good  thing  can  come  out  of  Nazareth,"  be  consoled  with  the 


THE  GARDEN  OF  ISAAC  GOODWIN.  20l 

knowledge  that  there  are  many  more  like  Goodwin  in  the  Mor- 
mon church,  and  that  such  leaven  as  this  will  yet  leaven  the 
whole  lump,  if  meddlesome  fingers  will  but  leave  it  alone. 

The  shrill  whistle  of  the  engine  was  heard  in  the  distance, 
and  we  hastened  to  meet  our  friends  in  the  train,  parting  reluc- 
tantly with  those,  who  now  bade  us  farewell,  loading  us  with 
fruits  and  benedictions. 


202  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
Sorghum — Luzerne — The  American  Fork  Canon. 

We  entered  the  train  at  Lehi  and  were  landed  at  American 
Fork  station  in  a  few  minutes,  the  distance  being  only  three 
miles  south,  along  the  shores  of  Utah  Lake.  While  waiting  for 
the  cars  in  which  we  were  to  be  taken  over  the  narrow-gauge 
railroad  to  the  canon,  we  had  an  opportunity  to  inspect  a  sor- 
ghum plantation.  The  surroundings  reminded  us  of  Louisiana 
and  Cuba,  excepting  that  the  whole  arrangement  was  on  a 
minute  scale,  and  that  a  few  white  men  and  boys  were  doing 
the  work  there  performed  by  an  ebony  crowd. 

An  inexperienced  cockney  would  readily  mistake  a  plantation 
of  sorghum  for  a  field  of  broom  corn,  which  it  so  much  resem- 
bles. It  is  thickly  planted,  like  sugar  cane,  and  similarly  har 
vested  and  ground.  The  stock  has  the  same  saccharine  prop- 
erty, though  in  a  lesser  degree.  The  grinding  apparatus  is  not 
unlike  a  cider  mill,  and  was  worked  by  a  patient  mule,  busily 
engaged  in  making  his  distances  on  the  small  circle.  The  juice 
is  boiled  down  from  one  kettle  to  another,  until  at  last  it  ac- 
quires the  consistency  and  flavor  of  good  southern  molasses. 
But  its  sweetness  refuses  to  consolidate  itself  into  anything 
better  than  what  Jack  of  the  forecastle  calls  "  long  sugar."  The 
cultivation  of  this  cane  is  rapidly  increasing  in  Southern  Utah, 

:< 


THE  AMERICAN  EOKK  CANON.  203 

where  the  climate  is  exceedingly  favorable.  One  hundred  gal- 
lons of  molasses  are  produced  to  the  acre,  and  this,  clear  of  all 
the  expenses  attending  it,  nets  to  the  planter  one  hundred  dol- 
lars. If  a  farmer  in  New  York  State  or  New  England  could 
make  $10,000  per  annum  from  his  farm  of  100  acres,  he  would 
not  have  his  present  complaints  to  make. 

Another  very  productive  industry  of  this  district  is  the  cul- 
tivation of  what  is  called  luzerne,  and  in  California  styled 
alfalfa.  Four  crops  are  here  cut  in  a  year,  while  further  south 
seven  harvests  of  it  are  obtained.  The  old  Scripture  simile  of 
the  "  desert  blossoming  as  the  rose,"  beautifully  and  poetically 
expresses  the  change  that  has  taken  place  in  these  valleys  in 
twenty-seven  years,  but  it  is  inadequate  to  give  an  idea  of  a 
land  whose  very  paths  drop  with  the  fatness  of  rich  abundance. 
Leaving  these  fertile  plains  behind  us,  we  were  shown  to  an 
open  observation  car,  which  the  superintendent  of  the  American 
Fork  Railroad  had  added  to  the  train  for  the  comfort  and 
pleasure  of  our  party. 

Messrs.  Howland  &  Aspinwall  of  New  York  are  the  chief 
owners  of  the  Miller  mine,  the  principal  property  in  this 
canon.  It  is  located  at  the  highest  point,  twenty-three  miles 
distant  from  this,  the  nearest  station  on  the  Utah  Southern 
Railroad.  Although  the  mine  was  at  one  time  very  productive 
of  valuable  ore,  it  was  almost  inaccessible,  on  account  of  the 
roughness  and  steepness  of  the  trail.  To  overcome  these 
obstacles,  this  narrow-gauge  road  was  constructed  for  fifteen 
miles.  Its  cost,  comprising  the  equipments,  has  amounted  to 
nearly  four  hundred  thousand  dollars.  So  great  has  been  the 
expense  and  so  much  disappointment  has  been  experienced  in 
the  productiveness  of  the  mine,  that  although  the  road  has  been 
graded  for  a  great  part  of  the  distance,  the  eight  miles  at  the 


204  THE  Rou^D  TRIP. 

upper  end  of  the  canon  is  still  only  a  rough  wagon  road.  But  an 
unselfish  happiness  should  be  theirs.  Among  the  many  tourists 
who  avail  themselves  of  the  pleasant  means  they  have  afforded 
the  public  of  visiting  some  of  the  most  magnificent  scenery  in 
the  world,  we  tender  them  our  hearty  thanks. 

The  excursion  must  now  be  made  for  the  whole  distance  on 
a  wagon  road,  the  railroad  having  been  discontinued. 

We  began  a  gradual  ascent  over  the  foot  hills  for  three 
miles,  drawing  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  grand  massive  range 
of  seemingly  impenetrable  mountains,  till  they  loomed  up  like 
impassable  barriers  to  our  progress.  Suddenly  a  chasm  was 
opened  between  two  enormous  perpepdicular  cliffs,  and  through 
this  narrow  valley  away  was  afforded  hardly  of  sufficient  breadth 
to  allow  of  the  passage  of  the  train.  Creeping  up  a  grade  of 
316  feet  to  the  mile,  we  wound  round  one  point  after  the  other, 
sometimes  under  the  dull  shadow  of  dripping  rocks,  and  then 
coming  out  into  the  warm  sunlight  that  fell  upon  hill  slopes  car- 
peted with  the  loveliest  velvet  green,  and  figured  with  clumps  of 
pine  trees  and  autumnal  tints  of  wild  shrubbery. 

It  was  a  glorious  day  of  this  most  glorious  season  of  the 
year,  when  Nature  in  her  harvest  robes  is  joyful  on  the  plains, 
and  in  her  mountain  plaids  surpassingly  attractive.  The 
mountains,  as  they  gathered  round  us,  in  our  ever-changing 
progress,  seemed  to  leap  for  joy,  and  the  sparkling  brook  danced 
to  its  own  melody.  The  sublimity  and  beauty  of  the  scene  spread 
over  our  little  company  such  a  feeling  of  awe,  that  at  times  we 
were  lost  in  silent  admiration,  and  again  were  carried  to  such 
ecstasy  of  delight,  that  words  could  not  be  found  for  its  expres- 
sion. Scenery  like  this  always  forces  from  the  observer  the  con- 
viction that  all  he  has  seen  before  is  tame  and  insignificant  in 
comparison. 


THE  AMERICAN  FORK  CANON.  205 

So  the  White  mountains,  the  towering  Appenines,  Mont 
Blanc,  the  Bernese  Oberland,  and  even  the  Yo  Semite  faded  away 
into  dim  pictures  of  the  past,  in  the  transcendent  light  of  this 
almost  unknown  canon  of  the  Wasatch  Mountains. 

A  bountiful  lunch  was  provided  for  us  at  Deer  Creek,  the 
terminus  of  the  railroad,  and  then,  some  in  a  wagon,  some  on 
horseback,  and  one  on  foot  who  arrived  first  of  all,  we  ascended 
the  canon  for  four  miles  to  "  Forest  City,"  a  municipality  com- 
prising some  smelting  works  and  charcoal  furnaces  for  its  public 
buildings,  and  four  shanties  for  the  inhabitants  of  its  various 
wards.  The  Miller  mine  is  four  miles  still  higher  up.  Two 
of  us  ascended  to  it  by  a  bridle  path,  varying  our  route  to 
examine  another  newly  developed  mine. 

Finally,  by  a  zigzag  trail  we  reached  the  Miller  at  a  short 
distance  from  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  a  few  moments  before 
the  sun  went  down.  His  last  rays  lingered  long  enough  to  light 
the  high  peaks,  while  the  deep  valleys  were  almost  shrouded  in 
night.  There  we  stood,  11,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
and  surveyed  the  great  panorama  of  alternate  day  and  night, 
extending  to  mountains  around,  and  over  chasms  below. 

It  was  the  very  night  of  the  full  moon,  when  she  rises  at  the 
moment  of  the  setting  of  the  sun.  Strangely  then  the  picture 
changed  ;  the  splendor  and  the  grandeur  faded  and  vanished 
away,  but  a  softness  and  a  beauty  succeeded,  even  more  pleasing 
than  the  magnificence  of  the  day.  The  sharp  outlines  of  the 
mountains  were  toned  clown  to  the  smoothness  of  grassy  mounds, 
all  colors  were  blended  into  a  grayish  blue,  the  hills  were  drawn 
together,  and  the  hazy  bottoms  of  the  valleys  rose  to  the  appear- 
ance of  elevated  plains.  So  contracted  did  all  things  now 
appear,  that  but  an  hour  before  were  spread  abroad  in  immensity. 

Daylight  and  darkness  are  alike  in  mines.     Mr.  Epley  showed 


206  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

us  a  part  of  the  works  which  had  been  commenced  four  years 
ago.  He  lives  at  the  mine  during  the  winter  as  well  as  summer 
months.  For  weeks  at  a  time  he  is  often  alone,  so  far  as  con- 
genial society  is  concerned,  but  in  his  little  cabin  there  is  a 
choice  library  well  stocked  with  standard  works.  There,  when 
the  snow  flies  and  the  tempest  howls,  he  sits  with  Shakespeare, 
Addison,  Pope,  Macaulay,  Scott,  Cooper,  and  Dickens,  besides 
a  number  of  scientific  gentlemen,  whose  companionship  we  should 
not  so  much  covet,  and  communing  with  these,  is  at  peace, 
though  all  without  is  elemental  war.  "  Is  it  not  cold  ?  "  we  asked. 
"  Not  very  ;  the  glass  seldom  falls  to  10  deg.  below  zero."  "  A 
great  deal  of  snow,  is  there  not  ?  "  "  Why,  yes ;  about  forty  feet 
deep."  "Hard  place  to  live  in  the  winter?"  "No;  not  with 
my  books."     Happy  Mr.  Epley  ! 

By  moonlight  we  descended  to  Forest  City,  and,  after  our 
long  and  romantic  ride,  were  right  glad  to  enjoy  the  supper,  at 
which  we  were  anxiously  awaited  by  our  companions.  In  the 
morning  we  were  rattled  down  to  the  railroad  station  at  Deer 
Creek,  where  we  again  took  the  observation  car,  descending 
without  the  company  of  an  engine.  A  brakeman  sat  at  each  end 
of  the  carriage  and  moderated  its  speed,  and  thus  we  glided 
smoothly  down. 


PROVO. 


207 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Provo — Factory  and  Co-operative  Store — The  Two  Mor- 
mon Sects — The  Childless  Bishop  and  his  More  For- 
tunate Brother. 

We  came  again  to  what  was  then  the  terminus  of  the  Utah 
Southern  Railroad,  a  pretty  little  city  of  4,000  inhabitants, 
fifty  miles  from  Salt  Lake,  where  the  mountains  overshadow  it 
from  the  east,  and  the  waters  of  Utah  Lake  ripple  on  the  shores 
at  its  feet.     This  is  Provo. 

We  came  on  a  lovely  summer  afternoon,  for  it  was  the  Indian 
summer  of  October.  The  mountains  were  still  hiding  in  their 
rocky  clefts  clumps  of  shrubbery,  variegated  with  every  hue. 
Quantities  of  apples,  peaches  and  plums  were  yet  remaining 
upon  the  garden  trees,  and  winter  seemed  to  be  far  away. 

But  as  evening  drew  on,  dark  clouds  gathered  over  the 
Wasatch  peaks,  and  dropped  in  misty  curtains  over  the  valley, 
the  trees  swayed  in  the  fitful  gusts  that  filled  the  air  with  dust, 
and  the  placid  lake  scowled  darkly,  and  broke  into  a  miniature 
sea  of  white-capped  waves. 

In  the  wild  night  the  rains  descended  and  the  winds  blew, 
and  when  the  morning  dawned  the  streets  and  gardens  were 
overflowed  by  water,  floating  away  the  fallen  fruit  and  leaves, 
and  the  mountains,  from  their  summits  down  to  an  even,  dark 
line,  where    the  snow  changed  to    rain,  were  covered  with  a 


2o8  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

white  mantle,  concealing  beneath  its  folds  alike  the  bare  rocks 
and  the  autumn-tinted  shrubbery.     Winter  had  come. 

Within  doors  we  were  comfortably  lodged,  fed  and  warmed 
by  Bishop  Miller,  and  there  we  proposed  to  remain  until  summer 
should  return,  not  for  months,  but  for  a  few  days. 

Utah  seasons  are  not  like  those  described  by  Thomson 
as  changing  with  great  regularity.  They  come  and  go.  The 
autumn  here  is  not  a  season  by  itself.  It  is  made  up  of  alternate 
summer  and  winter.  "Wait  a  day  or  two,"  said  the  bishop, 
"  and  summer  will  come  again  ;  then  you  can  go  on  your  way. 
In  the  mean  time  I  will  look  up  a  couple  of  good  saddle  beasts, 
and  you  can  go  out  between  the  drops  and  see  the  city." 

We  readily  acquiesced  in  the  title  given  to  Provo.  It  is 
one  of  the  earliest  Mormon  settlements,  and  its  prosperity 
always  was  a  pet  delight  of  Brigham  Young.  To  describe  the 
laying  out  of  one  Mormon  town  is  to  describe  them  all.  There 
are  the  same  methods  of  rectangular  streets,  bordered  on  each 
side  by  running  water,  and  shaded  by  cottonwoods  and  locusts, 
all  the  house  lots  and  orchards  enclosing  cottages,  and  every  thing 
about  the  localities  betokening  quiet  contentment. 

As  we  go  further  from  the  metropolis  we  see  less  of  what 
in  the  East  is  styled  comfort,  and  as  we  become  accustomed 
to  its  absence  we  are  apt  to  think  that  our  idea  of  comfort  is 
after  all  one  of  luxury  not  absolutely  necessary  to  the  enjoyment 
of  life.  Good  taste  is  invariably  displayed  in  the  selection  of 
town  sites.  This  is  involuntary,  but  the  effect  is  none  the  less 
charming.  Each  settlement,  large  or  small,  nestles  under  some 
mountain  range  and  at  the  mouth  of  a  canon.  The  streams 
that  run  down  these  narrow  defiles  are  caught  in  ditches  before 
they  waste  themselves  on  the  plains,  and  are  made  useful  in 
irrigating  the  village  gardens  and  the  fields  surrounding  them. 


FACTORY  AND  CO-OPERATIVE  STORE.  309 

At  the  mouth  of  Provo  Canon  this  little  city  is  not  only  well 
watered  and  pleasant  to  the  eye,  but,  owing  to  the  volume  and 
rapid  fall  of  the  river,  is  happily  situated  for  manufacturing  en- 
terprise. We  were  shown  through  the  largest  cloth  factory  in 
the  Territory,  a  capacious  stone  building  which,  with  its  machin- 
ery, cost  over  $200,000.  It  has  been  in  operation  six  years,  and 
besides  giving  employment  to  one  hundred  operatives,  is  a  very 
profitable  concern  to  its  stockholders.  The  blankets,  flannels, 
shawls  and  cloths  turned  out  by  this  establishment  are  finished 
goods  that  would  not  disgrace  the  counters  of  the  fashionable 
dealers  in  our  great  cities.  It  is  certainly  creditable  to  Brigham 
Young  that  he  introduced  the  best  breeds  of  sheep  into  Utah, 
and  in  such  a  short  period  followed  the  experiment  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end,  and  through  all  the  processes  produced 
these  proud  results. 

The  manager  of  the  co-operative  store  explained  the  working 
of  the  institution.  Like  the  woollen  factory,  it  is  a  stock  concern, 
and  as  far  as  possible  is  made  subservient  to  the  profit  as  well 
as  the  wants  of  the  community.  The  shares  are  issued  at  twenty- 
five  dollars  each,  in  order  to  induce  all  classes  of  people  to 
participate  in  the  copartnership. 

In  no  community  are  wealth  and  poverty  more  evenly  dis- 
tributed. It  may  be  said  of  Provo,  a  city  of  4,000  inhabitants,  that 
there  is  not  a  rich  man  or  a  poor  man  in  its  limits.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  find  anywhere  an  assemblage  of  an  equal  number  of 
inhabitants  so  contented  with  the  answer  to  Agur's  prayer,  "  Give 
me  neither  poverty  nor  riches." 

Our  host,  the  bishop,  was  one  of  the  "  early  pioneers."  I  have 
previously  noticed  the  unusually  large  percentage  of  old  people 
we  everywhere  meet.  It  would  seem  that  the  pilgrimage  over 
the  desert  in  1847  gave  to  everyone  who  undertook  and  finished 

14 


2io  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

it,  a  new  lease  of  life.  These  old  folks  never  die,  for  they  have 
earned  a  claim  to  immortality.  The  bishop  was  an  intimate 
friend  of  Joseph  Smith  the  prophet,  sharing  with  him  many  of 
his  adventures  and  persecutions. 

His  conversation  elicited  the  truth  of  a  very  important  but 
much  disputed  matter  of  church  history.  The  question  has 
often  been  discussed,  was  Joseph  Smith,  the  originator  of  the 
Mormon  sect,  a  polygamist  ?  The  Josephites,  or  as  they  are 
sometimes  called,  the  members  of  the  "Reformed  Church  of  the 
Latter-Day  Saints,"  deny  it  emphatically,  claiming  that  his  own 
life  was  one  of  purity,  and  that  he  did  not  countenance  impurity 
in  others.  They  accordingly  discarded  this  pernicious  doctrine 
which  they  say  is  a  device  of  Brigham  Young. 

In  almost  every  other  dogma  of  their  religion  they  are  in 
accord  with  the  dominant  sect.  We  have  listened  to  their 
preaching  and  never  discovered  any  other  material  difference. 
They  use  the  same  religious  books  in  their  worship,  and  argue 
from  them  the  prohibition  of  polygamy  with  as  much  earnestness 
as  Orson  Pratt  displays  in  its  advocacy.  They  all  accept  the 
Bible  as  a  literally  inspired  book  from  beginning  to  end. 

The  outside  Christian  world,  desirous  of  establishing  a  purer 
form  of  worship  in  Utah,  would  best  attain  its  object  by  en- 
couraging this  sect  of  Josephites.  The  prevalence  of  their 
teachings  would  reform  Mormonism,  and  that  certain  result 
would  be  better  than  all  that  can  be  accomplished  by  uncertain 
missionary  effort.  It  may  be  said  of  this,  in  general  terms,  that 
it  is  a  waste  of  time  and  money,  and  that  all  that  the  Presby- 
terians, Methodists,  and  Episcopalians  have  done  in  the  Territory 
has  been  among  themselves,  few  converts  having  been  made 
from  Mormonism. 

When   a   Mormon  apostatizes  he  almost  always  becomes  an 


THE  TWO  MORMON  SECTS.  211 

infidel  or  a  spiritualist.  It  will  be  admitted  by  most  people  that 
Christianity  of  any  kind  is  better  than  infidelity,  and  no  un- 
prejudiced person  can  study  the  Mormon  religion  and  its  effects 
upon  those  who  embrace  it  without  coming  to  the  conclusion 
that  if  it  could  be  shorn  of  its  one  objectionable  excrescence,  it 
would  confer  as  much  happiness  upon  this  condition  of  society 
as  any  other  form  or  creed  could  bestow.  I  should  like  to  see 
the  Mormons  complying  with  the  law  of  the  land,  which  has 
made  polygamy  a  crime,  but  apart  from  this  I  have  not  the  least 
desire  for  their  conversion. 

Unfortunately  for  the  Josephites  and  for  the  reformation  they 
propose  to  bring  about,  they  will  be  unable  to  establish  the  fact 
that  Joseph  Smith  was  a  monogamist.  His  earlier  writings  and 
practice,  and  all  the  teachings  of  his  "  Book  of  Mormon,"  were 
clearly  in  favor  of  monogamy  ;  but,  however  willing  to  be  virtuous 
was  his  spirit,  his  flesh  became  weak,  and  for  several  years 
before  his  death  he  was  living  in  violation  of  his  own  precepts. 
There  are  old  men  in  Utah  who  say  that  he  had  at  least  nine 
wives. 

Our  friend  Bishop  Miller  produced  this  conclusive  testimony. 
He  and  another  member  of  the  church  told  us  that  the  revelation 
of  polygamy  was  read  openly  three  years  before  the  death  of  the 
prophet,  and  that  they  had  heard  it.  Moreover,  Bishop  Miller 
was  married  to  his  wife  No.  2,  at  Nauvoo,  by  Hyrum  Smith,  the 
brother  of  the  prophet  Joseph,  two  years  before  those  two  men 
were  killed  by  the  mob  at  Carthage. 

Such  proofs,  easily  brought  forward,  will  lessen  the  influence 
of  "  Josephism."  But  despite  of  them,  the  name  itself  of  the 
sect,  and  the  purer  morality  of  its  teachings,  will  be  powerful 
arguments  in  its  favor.  Combining  with  other  causes,  they  will 
surely  produce  the  needed  reformation  in  the  church. 


212  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

The  surroundings  of  our  host  evinced  that  he  was  a  prosper- 
ous man.  Yet  there  was  sometimes  a  shade  of  melancholy 
passing  over  his  genial  face.  This  was  always  apparent  when 
children  were  referred  to  in  conversation.  At  first  we  thought 
that  he  had  lost  some  of  his  little  ones,  but  we  afterward  dis- 
covered that  he  had  had  no  little  ones  to  lose.  Hinc  Mae  lach- 
rymx. 

Two  comely  and  agreeable  matrons  in  his  household  took 
excellent  care  of  him.  Besides,  he  had  been  owned  by  four 
more,  now  deceased  ;  and  yet  the  poor  bishop  was  childless. 
Each  woman  thought  it  the  greatest  curse  that  could  fall  upon 
her,  and  their  general  head  considered  that  he  was  six  times 
accursed. 

True,  they  had  been  exemplary  Christians  to  the  best  of  their 
knowledge  and  ability,  conscientiously  fulfilling  all  the  duties  of 
this  life,  but  they  had  done  absolutely  nothing  toward  peopling 
the  "  celestial  kingdom."  Those  crowns  of  glory  to  be  fitted  on 
to  the  heads  of  their  productive  neighbors  were  not  for  theirs, 
and  their  "  exaltations  around  the  throne  "  would  be  of  a  low 
degree. 

How  much  happier  both  in  this  life  and  in  the  life  to  come 
is  and  is  to  be  the  condition  of  one  of  their  venerable  townsmen  ! 
He  is  ninety-two  years  of  age  and  the  father  of  sixty  children. 
The  eldest  is  seventy  years  old  and  the  youngest  is  sixty-seven 
years  his  brother's  junior.  We  were  sorry  that  this  patriarch 
was  not  at  home.  How  delightful  it  would  have  been  to  see  him 
trotting  these  two  children  of  seventy  and  of  three  on  his  knees, 
and  to  hear  him  repeat  from  "  Mother  Goose  " — 

"  Tom  Brown's  two  little  darling  boys! 
One  wouldn't  stay,  and  t'other  ran  away — 
Tom  Brown's  two  little  darling  boys  !  " 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  THE  SOUTH.  213 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  Journey  to  the  South — The  Hotel  at  Payson — Our 
Landlady's  Choice — Mormon  and  Gentile  Amenities 
— Hospitalities  of  the  Bishops  —  Mount  Nebo — En- 
ergetic Conduct  of  a  Bishop's  Wife — San  Pete  Val- 
ley— War,  the  Consequence  of  Miss  Ward's  Obstinacy 
— A  Monogamous  Mormon  Town — Reflections  of  Mrs. 
Price — The  Coal  Mines. 

After  two  days  the  storm  abated,  and  on  the  third  morning 
the  sun  rose  brightly  over  the  mountains,  now  covered  nearly  to 
their  base  with  snow.  Winter  seemed  to  have  fixed  his  per- 
manent abode  among  them,  while  summer  was  permitted  to  re- 
turn for  a  short  visit  to  the  valleys.  It  was  summer,  with  all  its 
agreeable  warmth,  but  not  too  hot  for  travel ;  summer,  lacking 
somewhat  of  the  pleasant  views  of  green  meadows,  ripening 
harvests,  and  fruitful  trees,  but  compensating  these  losses  by 
enhanced  beauty  of  mountain  scenery. 

The  bishop  had  secured  two  ponies  of  promising  character, 
but  with  peculiarities  subsequently  developed.  As  we  were  pro- 
vided with  our  own  outfit  of  saddle  and  side-saddle,  we  had  noth- 
ing more  to  ask  for,  but  cheerfully  agreeing  to  pay  half  a  dollar 
a  day  for  each  of  the  animals,  for  the  time  they  might  be 
required,  we  packed  our  luggage,  and,  mounting  them,  bade  the 


214  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

bishop  and  his  family  good-by  for  the  present.  Then,  over  a 
ground  made  soft  by  the  late  rains,  we  took  our  course  to  the 
south,  along  the  eastern  shores  of  Utah  Lake. 

On  the  first  afternoon  we  passed  through  Springville  and 
Spanish  Fork,  and  arrived  at  Payson,  eighteen  miles  from  Provo, 
in  the  evening.  The  road  lay  along  the  "  bench  "  below  the 
Wasatch  mountains.  By  turning  our  faces  to  the  left  we  could 
enjoy  a  continual  view  of  winter  magnificence,  and  then  looking 
down  upon  the  bottoms,  find  enough  of  summer  still  there  to 
make  a  pleasing  picture,  while  beyond  the  dark  blue  waters  of 
the  lake  contrasted  beautifully  with  the  snowy  Oquirrh  range  in 
the  west. 

As  we  rode  up  to  the  door  of  the  neat  little  inn,  we  were 
agreeably  surprised  to  meet  Judge  Emerson,  who,  with  a  party, 
was  on  his  return  from  the  Tintec  mines  to  Provo.  This  gentle- 
man, although  a  Federal  officer,  is  highly  respected  and  esteemed 
alike  by  Mormons  and  Gentiles. 

The  Mormons  accept  his  decisions  as  made  in  accordance 
with  the  spirit  of  the  law  he  is  placed  here  to  enforce.  No  one 
of  them,  excepting  the  most  bigoted,  can  complain  of  him  for 
being  the  agent  of  the  Government,  and  no  Gentiles,  excepting 
the  mischief-makers  of  the  "ring,  "  assert  that  he  is  too  lenient 
to  the  Saints. 

His  present  journey  was  an  instance  of  his  ability  to  hold 
their  mutual  confidence.  There  had  been  a  dispute  concerning 
a  mine  between  a  Gentile  and  a  Mormon.  Each  of  them,  desir- 
ous of  avoiding  legal  expenses,  had  agreed  that  the  judge  should 
go  with  them  to  the  spot,  and  there  decide  the  question.  This 
had  been  done,  and  all  parties  were  returning  amicably  together. 
The  arrangement  was  especially  agreeable  to  us,  as  it  afforded 
an  evening  of  pleasant  entertainment. 


OUR  LANDLADY'S  CHOICE.  215 

In  the  course  of  conversation  a  Mormon  of  the  party  observed 
that,  although  he  was  a  "  pluralist,  "  and  was  very  happy  in 
his  domestic  relations,  he  recognized  the  right  of  Government  to 
enforce  its  law  against  polygamy,  provided  it  was  constitutional. 
He  and  many  other  reflecting  men  were  perfectly  willing  that 
some  test  case  should  be  brought  into  the  courts,  in  order  that 
the  vexed  question  might  speedily  reach  the  highest  tribunal  and 
be  forever  set  at  rest.     This  desire  has  since  been  gratified. 

The  little  hotel  at  Payson  was  a  model  of  comfort.  It  had 
lately  been  established  by  a  young  couple,  the  husband  a  Gen- 
tile and  the  wife  a  Mormon.  The  linen  and  the  table  service 
were  faultless.  There  was  no  abominable  stove  to  burn  out  the 
oxygen  and  poison  the  atmosphere,  but  a  soft  coal  fire  was 
flaming  cheerfully  in  the  grate,  and  every  thing  reminded  us  of 
the  easy  luxury  of  an  English  country  inn. 

We  asked  our  pretty  landlady  how  she  came  to  marry  a  Gen- 
tile. "  Why,  isn't  he  handsome  ?  "  she  replied  ;  "  and  then  he 
is  good,  and  then — and  then — I  wanted  every  bit  of  him  to  my- 
self !     Father  didn't  like  it,  mother  didn't  like  it,  but  I  did." 

We  had  known  of  similar  vagaries  among  other  young  women, 
and  as  fathers  and  mothers  become  reconciled  to  them  after  a 
while,  we  sincerely  hope  that  the  obdurate  hearts  of  these  Mor- 
mon parents  will  relent.  Payson,  containing  about  2,000  in- 
habitants, is  a  thriving  farming  town. 

In  the  morning  we  went  on  our  way  south,  leaving  the  shores 
of  the  lake,  which  here  has  its  south-western  limit.  We  had 
passed  out  of  Salt  Lake  valley  before  coming  to  Provo,  and  now 
on  reaching  Santaquin,  came  to  the  southern  end  of  Utah  valley, 
following  the  new  grade  of  the  Utah  Southern  Railroad.  Every 
mile  this  thoroughfare  progresses  is  a  gain  to  the  mining  and 
agricultural  interests  of  the  South.     These  Utah  railroads  are 


2I6  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

dependent  upon  no  land  grants,  concessions,  or  subsidies  of  any 
kind.  In  the  exact  proportion  of  the  demand  and  necessity  for 
them,  they  are  constructed  by  the  people  and  for  the  people  who 
need  them.  Bonds  are  issued  for  two-thirds  of  the  cost,  and 
they  are  not  dependent  upon  Government  charity  or  the  chances 
of  Congressional  action.  There  is  no  watering  of  stock.  In 
short,  they  are  built  by  honest  men  for  honest  purposes.  To 
meet  the  wants  of  the  newly  developed  mines  at  Frisco,  this  road 
is  now  under  contract  to  be  extended  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  in  a  south-westerly  direction,  and  by  other  connections  will 
doubtless  in  due  time  reach  the  Pacific.  At  Santaquin  we 
reached,  by  a  somewhat  sharper  grade,  the  more  elevated  valley 
of  Juab,  three  or  four  miles  wide  and  thirty  miles  long,  Nephi, 
sixteen  miles  south  of  Santaquin,  being  its  shire  town. 

Progressing  ten  miles  in  that  direction,  we  came  to  the  small 
settlement  of  Willow  Creek.  We  were  provided  with  an  encyc- 
lical letter  from  a  church  dignitary  in  Salt  Lake,  addressed  "  to 
all  the  bishops  south.  "  It  was  intimated  therein  that  we  were 
in  search  of  information,  and  we  were  accordingly  commended 
to  the  courtesy  of  these  country  ecclesiastics,  who  were  request- 
ed to  furnish  refreshments  when  the  lack  of  hotels  obliged  us  to 
claim  their  hospitalities.  We  found  them  assiduous  in  contrib- 
uting to  our  comfort,  and  ready  to  impart  all  the  knowledge 
they  possessed.  Many  of  them  are  in  very  moderate  circum- 
stances, but  all  have  enough  and  to  spare.  A  Mormon  brother 
is  always  welcome  to  board  and  lodging  gratis,  and  even  a  Gen- 
tile often  finds  it  difficult  to  make  them  accept  any  remuneration. 

At  Willow  Creek  we  accordingly  called  upon  Bishop  Kay 
for  the  requirements  of  ourselves  and  our  animals.  Again  we 
found  an  early  pioneer,  and  listened  to  the  oft-repeated  story  of 
crossing  the  desert. 


SALT  LAKE  CITY  217 

Salt  Lake  City  is  4,300  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  We 
had  mounted  700  feet  in  a  distance  of  ninety  miles.  Here, 
directly  against  and  almost  above  the  village,  is  Mt.  Nebo,  the 
highest  peak  in  the  Territory.  It  was  incomparably  magnificent, 
clothed  in  its  spotless  robe  shaded  into  a  delicate  pink  at  its 
summit,  7,000  feet  above  us. 

The  wonderful  rarefaction  of  the  atmosphere  plays  curious 
freaks  with  our  estimation  of  distance.  I  said  to  the  bishop 
that  I  should  like  to  spend  a  day,  if  time  allowed,  in  going  up  to 
the  peak.  "  Well,  "  he  replied,  "  you  might  start  this  afternoon 
and  if  you  did  not  freeze  in  the  night  you  might  possibly  get 
there  by  sunset  day  after  to-morrow.  You  remind  me  of  an 
Englishman  travelling  through  this  back  country  a  few  years  ago. 
He  thought  everything  looked  so  near  that  he  hadn't  far  to  go,  and 
he  never  could  understand  why  he  could  not  get  along  faster. 
At  last  he  got  on  a  little  ahead  of  the  party.  They  came  up  to 
him  on  the  bank  of  a  small  brook  two  feet  wide.  He  was 
taking  off  his  boots  to  wade  over.  'Why  don't  you  jump  across?' 
somebody  asked  him.  '  Aw,  you  see,'  replied  the  Englishman, 
1  I've  been  deceived  so  often  that  I  fancied  this  brook  might  be 
half  a  mile  wide,  and  I  might  be  obliged  to  swim  ! ' ' 

After  dinner  we  rode  to  Nephi,  over  a  level  bench  of  sage 
brush  for  most  of  the  way. 

I  have  described  Nephi  in  the  mention  of  Payson  and 
Provo.  There  is  a  sameness  of  beauty  in  them  all.  It  contains 
about  2,000  inhabitants,  and  two  hotels,  one  of  which  we  know 
to  be  well  kept  by  Mr.  Seeley,  an  old  Californian.  "  Are  you  a 
Mormon  or  a  Gentile  ?  "  I  asked.  "  Nary  one, "  replied  Seeley, 
"I'm  a  neutral."  He  had  been  to  California  in  search  of  gold, 
he  said,  and  had  not  found  it.  So  he  had  come  here  in  search 
of  peace  and  quiet.     Surely  he  has  attained  it. 


2i8  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

California  and  Utah  solve  the  problem  of  longevity.  The 
gold  hunters  went  to  California  in  1849.  Ten  years  earlier 
the  religious  enthusiasts  came  to  Utah.  At  San  Francisco  the 
veterans  of  '49  have  the  annual  meetings  of  their  society.  Very 
few  of  them  are  now  left ;  of  these  too  many  are  broken  down 
old  men.  Auri  sacra  fames  produces  an  equal  appetite  for 
whiskey,  and  together  they  craze  the  brain.  In  no  country  is 
suicide  so  common,  or  old  age  so  rarely  attained,  notwithstand- 
ing its  unrivalled  climate,  as  in  California.  In  Utah,  where 
winter  howls  among  the  mountains  for  half  the  year,  and  the  toil 
of  the  farmers  in  the  valleys  is  incessant,  the  robust  exercise  of 
the  woodman  and  the  quiet  existence  of  the  agriculturist,  their 
temperate  habits  and  the  training  of  their  minds  in  continual 
regard  to  the  practice  of  religion  in  this  world  with  reference  to 
its  hopes  for  the  future — these  conditions  bring  but  little  wear 
and  tear  on  the  human  frame.  Men  live  out  their  three  score 
years  and  ten,  and  if  by  reason  of  strength  they  be  fourscore 
years,  the  Psalmist  would  admit  that  their  strength  is  not  always 
labor  and  sorrow. 

The  extensive  Tintec  silver  mines  can  be  reached  from  Nephi 
by  an  easy  grade  for  a  narrow  gauge  road  of  twenty  miles  in  a 
westerly  direction,  while  it  is  also  the  nearest  and  most  con- 
venient junction  for  the  narrow  gauge  road  contemplated  and 
surely  to  be  built  for  the  San  Pete  valley,  that  will  contribute  its 
coal  and  its  grain.  This  is  reached  by  the  Salt  Creek  canon, 
through  which  we  took  our  road. 

The  ascent  is  very  gradual,  little  of  it  being  on  its  steepest 
grade  of  200  feet  to  the  mile.  The  canon  is  so  wide  that  the 
height  of  the  mountains  at  its  sides  is  not  fully  realized,  and 
there  are  always  perplexing  ideas  of  distances.  By  a  circuitous 
track  we  wound     along,  keeping   mainly   a   southeast  course, 


SAN  PETE  VALLEY.  219 

but  often  steering  due  north.  In  this  way  we  circled  Mt.  Nebo, 
until  we  had  a  full  view  of  its  eastern  slope,  as  beautiful  in  the 
morning  light  as  its  western  side  appeared  in  the  sunshine  of  the 
previous  afternoon. 

With  the  exception  of  a  saw-mill  and  one  cattle  ranch,  there 
was  no  sign  of  habitation  or  life  upon  the  road  until  we  came  to 
Fountain  Green,  the  first  village  in  San  Pete  valley,  into  which 
we  descended  from  the  divide,  after  making  fifteen  miles  from 
Nephi.  Bishop  Johnson  not  being  at  home,  Mrs.  Johnson  gave 
us  a  kindly  welcome,  and  spread  before  us  an  abundant  and 
cleanly  meal. 

Polygamy  is  not  much  countenanced  in  San  Pete,  as  would 
appear  by  the  energetic  conduct  of  our  hostess  not  long  ago.  I 
have  related  the  experience  of  the  bishop  of  Camp  Floyd,  when 
he  pursued  matrimony  under  difficulties.  His  brother  of  Fountain 
Green  fared  even  worse.  He  also  conjugated  surreptitiously. 
When  Mrs.  Johnson  discovered  that  he  had  another  house,  she 
dressed  herself  in  male  apparel,  and  armed  with  an  axe,  de- 
stroyed the  honeymoon.  Fortunately  mistaking  the  bedpost  for 
one  of  their  heads,  she  hacked  it  into  a  broken  shaft  over  the 
grave,  as  it  were,  of  love  nipped  in  its  early  bud. 

The  valley  was  originally  called  by  the  Indian  name  of  San 
Pitch,  a  chief  of  this  region.  San  Pitch  headed  the  war  which 
devastated  these  settlements  ten  years  ago.  As  in  the  difficulty 
that  occurred  at  Eden,  Troy,  and  thousands  of  other  places,  a 
woman  was  the  cause  of  this  trouble.  Barney  Ward,  an  old 
settler  before  the  time  of  the  Mormon  occupation  of  the  valley, 
was  on  such  terms  of  friendship  with  San  Pitch,  that  he  promised 
him  his  daughter  in  marriage  when  she  should  become  of  a 
suitable  age.  But  when  that  time  arrived,  the  young  woman  was 
found  to  have  a  will  of  her  own.     She  rejected  the  advances  of 


220  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

the  swarthy  Ute,  and  he  took  vengeance  on  the  whites  for  the 
jilting  he  had  received.  The  innocent  people  who  had  begun  to 
settle  in  the  valley  were  murdered  or  driven  out,  their  habitations 
laid  waste,  their  crops  burned,  and  their  cattle  stolen.  All  this 
happened  because  of  the  obstinacy  of  Miss  Ward. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  the  Mormons  returned,  and  again 
built  their  homes,  fortifying  their  villages  with  rude  forts  for  de- 
fence in  case  of  other  outbreaks.  The  wisdom  of  their  precau- 
tions has  been  obvious,  for  two  raids  have  since  been  made  upon 
them,  the  last  of  which  occurred  five  years  since  when  several 
individuals  were  killed,  and  a  large  number  of  cattle  driven  off. 
Already  nine  towns,  including  Fountain  Green,  containing  alto- 
gether ten  thousand  people,  have  been  rebuilt,  and  are  in  a 
flourishing  condition. 

The  valley  is  forty  miles  in  length  by  four  or  five  in  breadth, 
and  is  very  productive  of  wheat,  barley,  and  oats.  Potatoes  are 
raised  in  great  abundance,  and  celebrated  for  their  excellent 
flavor.  The  average  grain  yield  of  San  Pete  is  450,000  bushels, 
a  great  part  of  which  is  exported  to  the  mines  of  Pioche,  Tintec, 
and  other  districts.  The  chief  future  product  of  San  Pete  will 
be  its  coal,  already  attracting  much  attention,  and  promising 
great  results. 

After  dinner  we  rode  from  Fountain  Green,  on  the  west  side 
of  the  valley,  south  to  the  small  collier  hamlet  called  Wales. 
This  is  an  absolutely  monogamous  Mormon  town.  There  had 
been  a  feeble  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  male  members  to  intro- 
duce polygamy,  but  the  women  so  rudely  handled  the  intruders 
on  their  domestic  peace,  that  the  men  surrendered  uncondition- 
ally, and  now  the  single  broomstick  reigns  supreme.  No  woman 
has  presumed  to  dispute  the  sway  of  a  rightful  wife  since  the  last 
audacious  hussy  was  mounted  on   a  rail,  and  carried  by  these 


SAN  PETE  VALLEY.  221 

Amazons  down  to  the  meadows,  where  she  was  dumped  and  left 
to  find  her  own  way  out  of  the  neighborhood. 

A  kind  old  Welsh  couple  took  us  into  their  little  log  hut  of  two 
rooms,  giving  us  the  best.  There  were  holes  in  the  roof,  the 
sides  and  the  floor,  thus  affording  plenty  of  ventilation  without 
windows.  Mrs.  Price  told  us  heart-rending  tales  of  the  poverty 
they  had  endured  before  they  were  now  so  comfortably  situated. 
Her  husband  had  been  superintendent  of  a  colliery  in  Wales, 
with  a  good  salary  which  he  had  abandoned  for  the  sake  of  his 
religion. 

"  I've  often  wondered,"  remarked  the  thoughtful  old  woman 
"  why  we  couldn't  have  been  Mormons  in  Wales  as  well  as 
here,  and  had  some  comfort  in  life  besides  what  we  get  in 
religion.  They  talk  about  coming  to  these  holy  mountains — well, 
and  aren't  there  mountains  there  too,  and  don't  they  belong  to 
the  Lord  just  as  much  ?  " 

She  did  not  see  the  advantages  of  martyrdom.  She  had  ex- 
perienced it  enough  not  to  yearn  after  more,  and  she  was  the 
first  emigrant  we  had  found  in  all  Utah  who  was  willing  candidly 
to  confess  that  she  was  sorry  she  had  come,  and  would  now  pre- 
fer to  be  living  in  her  old  home. 

In  the  morning  we  rode  up  to  the  principal  coal  mine  in  the 
canon,  three  miles  behind  the  village.  The  president  of  the 
company,  the  secretary,  the  treasurer  and  the  superintendent, 
were  all  living  together  in  a  comfortable  log  cabin,  serving  them 
for  sleeping,  cooking  meals,  store-room,  offices  of  their  various 
departments,  and  other  general  purposes. 

They  received  us  very  politely  and  escorted  us  further  up  the 
canon  to  the  place  where  the  works  are  in  active  progress,  ex- 
plaining all  matters  of  interest  by  the  way. 

The  veins  are  distinctly  traced  for  seven  and  three-quarters 


22  2  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

miles.  It  is  a  solid  stratum  of  five  feet  and  eight  inches,  en- 
closed in  flat  limestone  walls,  and  running  into  the  mountain  at 
a  pitch  of  twenty  degrees.  Along  this  incline"  they  have  run  a 
shaft  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  from  various  points  have 
drifted  tunnels  of  from  four  hundred  and  fifty  to  six  hundred 
feet.  Sixty  men  are  now  employed  at  the  works.  The  actual 
cost  of  mining  is  $2.50  per  ton,  and  it  is  sold  at  $4  on  the  dump. 
The  coke  is  made  at  the  mouth  of  the  canon,  and  the  full  cost  of 
it  there  turned  out  is  $4  per  ton.  It  cannot  probably  be  made 
for  less  in  Pennsylvania. 


VILLAGES  IN  THE  SAN  PETE  VALLEY.  22$ 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Towns  and  Villages  in  the  San  Pete  Valley — German 
Preaching — Providing  Tabernacles  for  Disembodied 
Spirits  —  Brigham  Young's  Journey — The  Mountain 
Meadow  Massacre — Life  and  Character  of  the  Apostle 
George  A.  Smith. 

We  left  the  hospitable  mud  thatch  of  Mr.  Price  at  Wales  on 
a  lovely  Sunday  afternoon.  Sabbath,  it  might  more  appropri- 
ately be  termed,  for  all  animate  and  inanimate  nature  seemed  to 
be  at  rest.  The  slow  pace  of  our  lazy  ponies  was  so  near  to  a 
standstill  that  so  far  as  using  them  is  considered,  we  could  not 
be  accused  of  breaking  the  commandment,  for  they  certainly  did 
no  work. 

As  for  ourselves,  we  did  not  "  sit  under  "  any  preacher,  but  on 
our  saddles  we  sat  under  the  smiles  of  the  great  Creator,  who 
made  such  days  as  this  for  the  enjoyment  of  his  creatures. 

Descending  the  bench  sloping  from  the  western  mountains, 
the  little  villages  of  Mount  Pleasant,  Spring  City,  Maroni,  and 
Ephraim  were  in  full  view  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  valley,  their 
green  orchards  variegating  the  sage  brush  deserts.  The  towns 
were  all  abandoned  and  destroyed  when  the  Indians  ravaged  the 
valleys  of  San  Pete,  Sevier,  and  the  surrounding  country.    Their 


224  TIIE  R0UND  TRIP. 

present  condition  evinces  the  energy  the  settlers  have  displayed 

in  rebuilding  their  homes. 

The  forts  they  have  constructed  are  not  unlike  many  old 
European  fortresses  of  the  middle  ages,  being  provided  with  loop- 
holes for  rifle  shooting,  as  those  were  for  the  use  of  bows  and 
arrows.  This  is  quite  sufficient,  as  the  Indians  are  unprovided 
with  artillery,  though  some  of  them  have  been  furnished  by 
greedy  and  unscrupulous  traders  with  the  best  Henry  rifles.  We 
occasionally  met  bands  of  them  armed  in  this  way  and  belted 
with  metal  cartridges. 

These  fellows,  although  now  peaceable  perforce,  carry  in 
their  devilish  faces  the  inclination  to  pull  the  triggers  of  their 
fancy  weapons  whenever  they  can  do  so  with  impunity.  Most 
of  them,  however,  are  but  rudely  armed,  some  still  carrying  old 
flint-locks,  and  not  a  few  relying  upon  their  original  bows  and 
arrows.  But  the  same  disposition  is  left  in  them  all  to  use  what- 
ever will  serve  the  purpose  of  getting  a  white  man's  scalp. 

It  was  but  twelve  miles'  travel  from  Wales  to  Ephraim,  the 
most  southern  town  of  importance  in  the  valley.  As  we  came 
down  from  the  western  bench  we  passed  over  three  miles  of 
river  bottom  watered  by  the  San  Pete,  a  narrow,  sluggish  stream 
tapped  by  irrigating  ditches  several  miles  above.  The  villages 
on  the  benches  are  watered,  and  their  gardens  made  produc- 
tive, by  the  torrents  from  the  canons,  while  the  farming  lands 
are  spread  over  the  rich  bottoms  of  the  meadows. 

The  cattle  either  find  pasturage  on  the  benches  and  in  the 
canons  or  are  herded  on  the  low  lands.  Ephraim  contains  about 
1,700  inhabitants.  As  we  entered  it  on  this  quiet  Sunday  even- 
ing, it  would  have  seemed  like  a  city  of  the  dead  had  it  not  been 
too  beautiful  for  such  a  melancholy  idea. 

The  Mormons  believe  in   spirits  of   the   air.     These  might 


VILLAGES  IN  THE  SAN  PETE  VALLEY.  225 

have  been  dwelling  here  unseen.  They  could  not  have  had  a 
more  heavenly  home  on  earth.  Lovely  as  were  the  many  vil- 
lages we  had  seen,  this  last  one,  with  its  neat  cottages,  and  streets 
shaded  by  long  lines  of  trees,  with  not  a  sound  to  break  the  still- 
ness, but  that  of  the  running  roadside  streams,  and  the  setting 
sun  gilding  the  snowy  mountains  in  its  background,  leaves  in  our 
memory  one  of  the  fairest  pictures  of  the  journey. 

At  last  the  herd  boys  came  driving  in  their  cows,  and  the 
blowing  of  their  horns,  the  tinkling  of  the  bells,  and  the  lowing 
of  the  cattle  awakened  the  little  town  from  its  dreamy  repose.  A 
few  people  came  out  from  their  cottages  and  leaned  listlessly 
over  the  fences.  From  one  of  them  we  obtained  a  direction  to 
the  inn. 

Ephraim  is  almost  entirely  settled  by  Danes  and  Germans. 
In  the  evening  we  attended  the  "  meeting  "  in  a  large,  taste- 
fully built  church.  It  stands  in  the  centre  of  the  stone  fort, 
presenting  a  formidable  appearance,  surrounded  by  walls  and 
bastions.  The  preaching  might  have  been  in  Danish  so  far 
as  it  conveyed  any  instruction  to  us.  Few  of  the  speakers  had 
pure  English  at  command,  but  they  all  seemed  to  comprehend 
each  other  with  the  same  accustomed  facility  with  which  we 
understand  "Pigeon  English"  in  China.  The  church  does  not 
encourage  the  continuance  of  old  national  habits  or  language  in 
Utah.  Therefore  the  new  comers  are  required  to  speak  in 
English  as  best  they  can. 

Now  and  then  we  could  make  out  a  little  of  the  discourse. 
In  descanting  upon  the  "United  Order  "  which  Brigham  Young 
was  laboring  to  introduce,  one  of  the  brethren  observed,  "  Ven 
de  Presdent  tell  vat  he  tinks  am  recht,  I  vas  alvays  know  das  ist 
recht :  who  vas  ever  know  him  tell  lie  ?  If  angel  vas  coom 
down   from  himmel  and  vas  say  something    dif'frent,  I   moost 

*5 


226  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

believe  der  angel  vas  lie.  Cause  vy  ?  Vasn't  ter  duyvil  fix  him- 
self up  like  angel  mit  shnake's  face  and  coom  to  ter  garten  mit 
Adam  and  Eve  and  tell  'em  lies  ?  Brigham  Young  is  ter  great 
prophet.  I  don't  believe  vat  all  de  priests  in  de  voorld  say  agin 
him.  He  is  yoost  like  Lijah  ven  he  shtand  oop  agin  der  vier 
hoonderd  und  fumfsig  prophets  von  Baal,  and  beat  dem  all." 

The  next  day  I  had  a  pleasant  talk  with  Bishop  Peterson. 
He  is  the  "  husband  of  one  wife  "  and  several  more.  He  looked 
upon  polygamy  as  a  hardship  but  a  duty,  expressing  not  only  a 
perfect  willingness  but  a  wish  that  the  question  might  be  fairly 
tried  by  the  supreme  court.  If  the  law  of  1802  and  the  Poland 
bill  are  declared  to  be  constitutional  he  will  cheerfully  refrain 
from  being  married  again.  In  fact  he  would  be  glad  of  an 
excuse  for  not  complying  any  longer  with  revealed  orders,  when 
the  orders  of  the  Government  legally  enforced,  oppose  them. 
The  mind  of  the  bishop  must  now  be  relieved. 

One  of  the  Mormon  theories  being  that  the  air  is  full  of  dis- 
embodied spirits  in  want  of  earthly  habitations  in  which  to  do 
penance  for  their  sins,  in  order  to  obtain  salvation,  our  good 
friend  has  hitherto  considered  it  his  duty  to  "provide  taber- 
nacles "  for  them  to  enter.  He  who  provides  the  greatest 
number  of  tabernacles  is  instrumental  in  saving  the  greatest 
number  of  distressed  spirits,  and  is  accordingly  a  benefactor  to 
,the  spirit  world,  deserving  of  the  highest  exaltation. 

This  is  a  man's  excuse  for  polygamy.  The  woman  gains  for 
herself  also  exaltations  in  proportion  to  the  tabernacles  pro- 
duced. This  glorious  hope  of  the  future  reconciles  her  to  the 
humiliation  of  her  condition,  to  the  mere  participation  of  her 
husband's  affection,  to  a  small  share  in  his  property,  to  jealousy, 
heart-burnings,  domestic  quarrels,  and  all  the  unmentionable 
miseries  of  this  damnable  system.  It  is  true  that  Brigham 
Young  urged  it  only  upon  those  men  who   think  that  they  are 


VILLAGES  TV  THE  SAN  PETE  VALLEY.  227 

able  to  support  more  than  one  family,  and  upon  those  women 
only  who  think  that  they  will  be  happy  in  the  relation.  But  I 
have  not  yet  seen  one  man  who  has  become  richer  by  polygamy 
while  I  have  met  hundreds  who  were  impoverished  by  it,  nor  in 
all  the  families  we  visited  in  our  extended  tour,  where  the  sub- 
ject is  always  broached  by  the  Mormon  women  themselves, 
have  there  been  found  but  three  individuals  among  them  who 
claimed  to  be  happy. 

Bishop  Peterson  gave  us  an  interesting  narrative  of  the 
Indian  raids  and  the  consequent  sufferings  of  the  settlers  who, 
unable  to  defend  themselves,  sought  shelter  in  the  rocky  fast- 
nesses of  the  mountains. 

The  United  States  Government  afforded  them  not  the 
slightest  aid.  The  bishop  observed,  with  no  more  bitterness 
than  was  warranted  by  the  fact,  that  the  only  troops  sent  to 
Utah  came  as  enemies,  not  as  friends  to  the  Mormons.  He 
thought  it  unreasonable  in  the  Government  to  exercise  control 
over  their  social  relations,  while  it  treated  them  as  a  separate 
and  distinct  people  by  leaving  them  to  fight  their  own  battles. 

We  were  taken  into  the  large  co-operative  store,  and  told 
with  pride  of  the  great  dividend  of  sixty  per  cent,  declared  last 
year.  This  seems  enormous,  but  it  is  really  nothing  more  than 
the  taking  out  of  one  pocket  and  putting  into  the  other.  Almost 
every  purchaser  is  a  stockholder.  If  he 'gets  sixty  per  cent, 
dividends — always,  by  the  bye,  payable  in  goods — it  is  only  be- 
cause he  pays  sixty  per  cent,  too  much  for  all  that  he  buys.  The 
system  varies  from  a  high  tariff  policy,  inasmuch  as  the  people 
who  pay  the  high  duties  that  make  high  prices  do  not  receive 
again  the  profits.  These  go  into  the  pockets  of  monopolists. 
The  Utah  farmer  pays  himself  back.  The  people  of  the  United 
States  pay  manufacturing  corporations.     That  is  the  difference. 


228  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

In  a  succeeding  chapter  will  be  found  a  relation  of  the 
experience  of  travel  from  the  little  town  of  Ephraim  to  the 
southern  point  of  our  journey.  Among  the  places  worthy  of 
remembrance  on  the  route,  Richfield,  the  county  town  of  Sevier 
valley,  is  most  prominent.  The  valley,  fifty  miles  long,  watered 
by  the  river  of  the  same  name,  is  easily  irrigated,  and  although 
it  has  not  been  under  cultivation  until  recently,  has  abundant 
promise  for  the  future. 

We  happened  to  be  in  Richfield,  as  in  Gunnison,  at  the  same 
time  with  Brigham  Young  and  his  party  of  about  twenty  persons, 
on  their  way  to  "  Dixie,"  as  the  extreme  south  of  Utah  is  termed. 

The  imperial  crowd  being  entitled  to  the  best  hospitalities  of 
the  people,  unbelieving  Gentiles  could  expect  but  poor  accom- 
modations unless  they  chose  to  attach  themselves  to  the  suite. 
Brigham  himself  was  very  ill,  making  no  public  appearances  on 
the  route,  and  although  we  were  acquainted  with  several  of  the 
elders  who  accompanied  him,  we  kept  aloof  from  their  society,  as 
their  journey  was  a  sort  of  religious  procession  of  praying  and 
preaching  in  which  we  were  not  especially  interested. 

When  notice  was  given  that  he  was  expected  in  a  settlement 
on  his  line  of  march,  a  cavalcade  went  out  to  meet  him,  and  when 
he  departed  he  was  escorted  in  the  same  way  until  met  by  other 
horsemen.  The  poor  old  gentleman  could  only  look  from  a 
window  of  his  carriage  and  thank  them  with  a  silent  blessing. 
It  was  perhaps  his  last  journey.  Thirty  years  ago,  in  his  full 
vigor  of  mind  and  body,  he  made  his  entrance  through  the  wild 
Emigration  canon  into  what  is  now  the  fruitful  United  States  Ter- 
ritory of  Utah. 

Then  it  was  a  Mexican  desert,  uninhabited,  save  by  roving 
savages,  unproductive  of  a  blade  of  wheat.  He  had  now  left  the 
city  whose  foundations  he  then  laid.     More  than  a  hundred  miles 


THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOW  MASSACRE.  229 

north  of  it  the  country  is  already  thickly  peopled,  and  as  he 
travelled  through  these  valleys  three  hundred  miles  to  the  south, 
he  beheld  thousands  of  acres  that  had  just  yielded  a  bountiful 
harvest,  thousands  of  cattle  and  sheep  grazing  upon  them,  and  in 
the  hills,  orchards,  and  gardens,  lovely  villages,  and  above  all 
tens  of  thousands  of  happy,  industrious  people  settled  in  these 
towns  and  on  their  farms,  every  one  of  whom  was  indebted  to  his 
energy  and  foresight. 

I  cannot  yet  comprehend  his  character.  I  cannot  believe  that 
a  man  of  his  astuteness  could  have  been  totally  led  away  by  the 
delusions  of  Joseph  Smith,  nor  can  I  think  that  one  of  his 
unswerving  fidelity  to  the  religion  he  embraced,  maintained  and 
successfully  propagated  was  a  consummate  hypocrite.  At  all 
events  I  am  persuaded  that  he  became  at  last  convinced  of  his 
own  sincerity.  He  looked  upon  the  end  of  his  labors  as  justify- 
ing the  means  taken  to  achieve  the  grand  result. 

There  have  been  committed  in  the  early  years  of  the  settle- 
ment by  the  Mormons,  single  murders  rivalling  in  atrocity  those 
now  perpetrated  in  the  mining  camps  with  horrible  frequency  by 
Gentiles  ;  but  to  reproach  the  Mormons  as  a  people  with  whole- 
sale atrocities  as  premeditated,  or  to  accuse  Brigham  Young  of 
instigating  them,  are  slanders  worthy  only  of  those  who  invent 
them  and  sustain  them  for  base  political  ends. 

The  Mountain  Meadow  massacre,  a  crime  unparalleled  in 
barbarity  by  either  Mormon  or  Gentile,  furnishes  the  chief 
ground  of  these  accusations.  I  have  made  inquiries  in  every 
direction  regarding  this  celebrated,  most  wretched  affair,  and  am 
thoroughly  convinced  that  the  emigrants  themselves  excited  the 
animosity  of  the  Indians,  who  were  joined  by  white  men  of 
notoriously  bad  character.  The  emigrants  were  butchered  from 
motives   of   revenge  and   plunder.     Brigham    Young   and    the 


23o  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

Mormon  Church  had  no  more  concern  in  its  perpetration  than 
the  Pope  of  Rome  or  the  Catholic  Church  has  in  any  murder 
committed  by  men  who  acknowledge  their  authority. 

The  preaching  of  "  blood  atonement  "  as  a  doctrine  of  relig- 
ion in  former  years  will  forever  stand  against  Brigham  Young, 
although  he  long  ago  discontinued  its  advocacy.  His  main- 
tenance of  the  polygamous  practice  was  a  disgrace  to  his  name, 
but  it  is  contemptibly  mean  and  unmanly  to  vilify  him  for  crimes 
of  which  he  was  not  guilty  and  to  refuse  him  the  credit  due  for 
the  good  that  he  accomplished. 

His  conscience,  unless  it  was  perverted  by  fanaticism,  must 
have  marred  the  satisfaction  with  which  he  viewed  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  work.  Still,  it  would  not  be  wonderful  if  he  drew 
the  balance  greatly  in  his  own  favor.  Like  the  patriarchs  whom 
he  sought  to  imitate,  whose  good  deeds  were  many  and  whose 
misdeeds  were  few,  he  was  ready  to  depart  in  peace  and  to  be 
gathered  to  his  fathers. 

President  George  A.  Smith,  next  in  council  to  Brigham  Young, 
accompanied  him  on  this  journey.  Mr.  Smith  was  my  favorite 
apostle.  We  had  often  heard  him  preach  at  the  Tabernacle  in 
Salt  Lake.  His  views  were  more  liberal  than  those  advocated  by 
many  of  his  co-religionists,  and  his  plain,  practical  teachings  were 
instructive  to  Gentiles  as  well  as  to  Mormons.  He  was  fifty- 
seven  years  of  age,  of  tall,  portly  figure,  with  a  face  of  infinite 
jollity  and  expressive  humor.  This  cropped  out  so  frequently 
that  the  audience  always  expected  to  be  entertained  when 
"  Brother  George  A."  held  forth. 

His  private  character  was  without  reproach,  excepting  on  the 
score  of  polygamy.  I  do  not  believe  all  we  hear  of  the  grasping 
propensities  of  the  heads  of  the  Church,  for  on  visiting  Mr. 
Smith  at  his  residence  in  the  city,  we  found  him  living  in  the 


THE  MORMONS.  23 1 

simplest  manner  consistent  with  ordinary  comfort,  and  I  scarcely 
know  one  of  the  apostles,  elders,  or  bishops  not  engaged  in  some 
lucrative  business  of  his  own,  who  maintains  a  style  above  that  of 
a  laboring  mechanic. 

Mr.  Smith  was  the  historian  of  Utah.  He  came  out  originally 
with  Brigham  Young,  and  his  personal  experiences,  united  with 
the  material  he  had  diligently  collected  from  other  sources, 
would  make  volumes  of  exceeding  interest  and  entertainment. 
On  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  Richfield  we  attended  the 
crowded  meetings  and  listened  to  the  discourses  of  Mr.  Smith 
and  several  others. 

Mr.  Smith  told  of  his  adventures  thirty  years  ago,  when  he 
explored  the  south  of  Utah,  before  the  idea  of  a  settlement  in 
the  region  was  seriously  entertained  ;  of  his  camping  out  when 
the  mercury  stood  19  deg.  below  zero  :  how  an  Indian  and  a 
lonely  trapper  stole  his  mule  ;  of  the  lesson  he  then  got  "  never 
to  trust  a  mule,  an  Indian,  or  an  old  bachelor  ;"  how  after  the 
settlement  was  made  at  Salt  Lake  he  preceded  Fremont  three 
years  in  the  exploration  of  this  valley  of  San  Pete  ;  how  his  party 
was  snowed  up  for  a  whole  winter  in  the  neighboring  mountains, 
and  how  under  difficulties  and  dangers  he  had  travelled  the  whole 
territory  from  north  to  south,  three  or  four  times  a  year,  for 
several  years,  to  get  an  accurate  knowledge  of  its  topography. 

Then  he  gave  the  people  some  very  good  advice  :  "  Make  the 
most  of  materials  at  hand,  without  procuring  luxuries  from 
abroad.  Skin  every  dog  or  cat  that  dies  or  is  killed.  If  that 
don't  give  you  leather  enough  for  shoes  besides  what  you  get 
from  cattle,  make  the  soles  of  wood  ;  wooden  soles  are  preventi- 
tives  of  rheumatism.  They  are  better  than  the  sponge  soles  you 
import  from  the  East.  Raise  your  own  sheep.  Manufacture 
your  own  wool.     Make  your  women  useful  as  well  as  ornamental. 


232  THE  ROUND   TRIP. 

Work  outside,  and  they  will  be  encouraged  to  work  inside.  You 
have  got  everything  you  want  right  here  at  home — the  best  of 
land,  the  best  of  cattle,  the  best  of  religions,  the  best  of  every- 
thing. Thank  God  for  his  continual  mercies.  Pray  to  Him 
morning  and  evening,  and  at  every  meal.  When  the  railroad  is 
completed  you  can  have  some  luxuries  you  cannot  now  procure, 
and  you  can  pay  for  them  in  the  abundant  excess  of  your  own 
productions.  Pay  up  your  tithing  like  good  Latter-Day  Saints  ; 
not  a  particle  of  it  shall  be  misappropriated.  We  want  more 
temples  for  the  Lord,  and  whatever  excess  there  is  shall  go  to 
bringing  people  from  all  parts  of  the  earth  to  participate  with 
you  in  your  blessings.  Never  get  into  debt.  When  you  take  up 
land  pay  for  it  as  soon  as  you  can,  whether  obliged  to  do  so  or 
not  ;  for  I  have  always  noticed  that  people  get  into  debt  when 
they  are  flush  and  have  to  pay  up  when  money  is  scarce.  To 
those  of  you  who  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  have  come  to  this 
country  with  your  clothes  on,  I  would  say,  get  clothed  at  once 
with  all  the  rights  of  an  American  citizen.  You  have  a  judge  in 
this  district  who  is  a  just  and  honorable  man,  and  who  does  not 
consider  himself  a  missionary  sent  here  expressly  to  convert  you. 
If  you  are  drawn  on  a  jury  don't  shirk  your  duty.  Don't  lie 
before  God  or  man.  If  a  man  is  indicted  for  polygamy  entered 
into  since  the  law  of  1862,  and  it  is  proved,  convict  him  accord- 
ingly. We  know  that  law  is  unconstitutional,  and  we  can  beat 
them  in  their  own  courts.  Don't  be  nervous  about  it.  Take  a 
little  valerian  tea  and  put  your  trust  in  God.  Everything  will 
come  out  all  right.  Show  to  the  world  that  you  are  a  quiet,  law- 
abiding  people.  We  have  stood  a  good  deal,  and  we  can  stand 
it  to  the  end.  May  every  blessing  attend  you.  I  ask  it  of  the 
Eternal  Father  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  Amen." 
We  have  listened  to  worse  sermons  than  that. 


THE  MORMONS.  233 

Soon  afterwards,  the  whole  community  of  Utah  was  saddened 
by  the  death  of  this  excellent  man.  His  history  is  almost  as 
remarkable  as  that  of  Brigham  Young.  Indeed,  he  was  the  right 
hand  of  the  head  of  the  Church.  He  most  sincerely  believed  .in 
the  inspiration  of  his  cousin  Joseph  Smith,  and  from  the  date  of 
his  baptism  into  the  Church  of  the  Latter-Day  Saints  in  1832,  he 
devoted  unselfishly  every  day  of  his  life  to  its  interests. 

He  seemed  to  entertain  the  same  ideas  of  polygamy  which,  in 
a  letter  to  me,  he  attributed  to  the  founder  of  the  sect.  He  says  : 
"  He  was  a  rigidly  moral,  virtuous,  and  pure  man,  and  nothing 
but  a  sense  of  the  awful  responsibility  of  disobeying  the  Almighty 
caused  him  to  teach  or  practice  a  principle  which  increased 
manifold  the  responsibilities  and  burdens  of  men."  A  Gentile 
finds  it  hard  to  believe  that  duty  is  the  motive  to  influence  a  man 
in  that  direction.  Nevertheless,  knowing  the  honesty  of  the 
writer,  I  can  credit  it  in  his  case  at  least. 

I  am  indebted  to  him  for  many  anecdotes  of  the  early  settle- 
ment of  Utah.  The  following  extract  from  one  of  his  letters 
is  characteristic  of  frontier  life. 

The  school-room  and  school  library  of  the  pioneer  school- 
master teach  us  how  education  may  be  obtained  under 
difficulties. 

"  St.  George,  Washington  Co.,  Utah, 

Nov.  14. 

Dear  Sir  :  Your  letter  from  Cove  Fort  of  November  7  has 
been  received.  I  should  take  much  pleasure  in  giving  you  the 
desired  information  concerning  the  settlements  in  the  southern 
country,  with  the  history  of  which  I  have  been  familiar  from 
the  beginning,  were  it  not  that  my  time  is  so  much  occupied  with 
other  duties  as  to  render  it  impossible. 

I  camped   with   my  party  in    Cove  on   the   4th    of   January, 


234 


THE  ROUND   TRIP. 


1851.  We  ploughed  the  first  ground  and  sowed  the  first  wheat; 
built  the  first  saw  and  grist  mill — two  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
from  any  other.  I  taught  the  first  school  opened  in  the  settle- 
ment ;  and  some  of  my  scholars  are  now  the  principal  men  in  the 
county.  My  first  grammar  class  of  eighteen  had  only  one  book — 
a  copy  of  Kirkham's  grammar — the  instruction  being  given  by 
lectures  and  repetition.  Our  school-room  was  out  of  doors  by  an 
immense  fire  of  dry  cedar  and  pinion  pine,  around  which  we 
spent  the  evenings  of  the  entire  winter. 

Walker,  the  Ute  Indian  chief,  who  had  for  half  the  generation 
been  the  terror  of  the  entire  California  frontier,  came  to  our 
camp  with  his  warriors,  and  we  were  very  much  pleased  to  find 
he  was  disposed  to  be  friendly.  He  was  mourning  over  the  bad 
luck  he  had  had  on  his  last  raid  for  stealing  horses,  which  he 
said  San  Pitch,  his  brother,  had  made  a  failure  of ;  although  he 
was  lucky  in  stealing  one  thousand  head  of  horses  at  one  haul, 
he  got  sleepy,  and  the  Spaniards  overtook  him  and  got  back 
eight  hundred  of  them.  I  persuaded  Walker  to  quit  that  business, 
as  the  Americans  had  got  possession  of  California,  and  they 
would  surely  scalp  him  if  he  continued  it.  Walker  and  his 
Indians  never  made  a  raid  on  California  since,  though  they  had 
made  one  annually  for  twenty-five  years  previous." 

Every  right-minded  man  entertains  a  respect  for  sincerity  of 
belief  even  in  those  from  whom  he  differs  in  many  questions 
of  doctrine  and  practice.  No  one  can  fail  to  appreciate  the 
practical  character  of  this  pioneer  of  religion  for  his  sect,  of 
Civilization  for  his  countrymen  at  large.  The  good  that  he  has 
done  will  live  after  him  in  the  grateful  memories  of  many  others 
besides  those  for  whose  interest  his  life  was  especially  devoted. 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  TEA  VEL  IN  UTAH. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Impressions  of  Travel  in  Utah  upon  the  Female  Mind— The 
Storm  in  Clear  Creek  Canon — Cove  Fort — The  Ute 
Indians — Angutseeds  and  Kanosh — On  the  Way  to  the 
North — Fillmore — Scipio — Lost  on  the  Desert — The 
Tintec  Mines — Return  to  Salt  Lake  City. 

As  it  is  my  desire  to  introduce  some  of  the  readers  of  these 
notes  to  follow  upon  our  tracks,  ladies  will  appreciate  my  candor 
if  I  enable  them  to  form  an  idea  how  travelling  in  these  regions 
strikes  the  female  mind.  With  this  purpose  I  introduce  a 
familiar  letter  from  my  wife  to  her  daughter  which  has  the  merit 
and  the  interest  of  not  being  intended  for  publication.  It  is  fair 
to  say  that  the  inconveniences  experienced  were  unusual,  and 
that  they  were  endured  with  patience  and  fortitude,  and  that  their 
recollection  has  afforded  an  enjoyment  corresponding  to  the 
difficulty  of  surmounting  them. 

"  Cove  Fort,  November  9. 

My  Dear :  We  made  a  delightful  journey  on  horse- 
back of  about  a  hundred  miles  from  Provo.  As  I  am  not  able 
to  ride  comfortably  more  than  twenty-five  miles  a  day,  in  order 
to  gain  time  and  to  obtain  the  least  uncomfortable  lodgings  on 


236  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

the  road,  whenever  there  is  an  opportunity  I  shall  avail  myself  of 
the  mail  carrier's  conveyance.  Your  father  meantime  will  lead 
my  horse  or  fasten  him  to  the  wagon. 

In  this  way  we  started  from  Ephraim  on  Monday  afternoon, 
for  Gunnison,  the  most  southern  town  in  San  Pete  valley,  on  the 
Indian  reservation,  and  distant  twenty-five  miles.  The  stage 
proved  to  be  a  rickety  open  wagon  with  two  seats. 

The  country  was  very  barren  and  uninteresting — sage-brush 
plains,  with  low  hills.  We  passed  a  settlement  called  Manti 
about  half-past  six  o'clock.  Here  we  changed  horses,  and  I  had 
a  cup  of  tea,  made  in  a  miserable  adobe  cabin,  which  warmed 
and  made  me  more  comfortable  for  the  next  two  hours.  Your 
father  rode  his  horse,  and  mine  was  led  by  the  side  of  the  horses 
of  the  wagon. 

I  had  for  a  companion  from  Manti  to  Gunnison  an  Irishman 
named  Reed,  an  educated  man,  who  was  converted  and  came  to 
this  country  some  twelve  years  ago.  He  told  me  that  I  was  the 
first  "outsider"  that  he  had  seen  during  that  time.  From  the 
bitterness  with  which  he  spoke  of  England's  course  towards 
Ireland,  I  fancy  that  his  discontentment  drove  him  out  West. 
Here  he  embraced  this  religion  and  provided  himself  with  an 
extra  wife. 

We  reached  Gunnison  about  half-past  eight  o'clock.  It  was 
very  dark,  but  it  appeared  to  us  a  very  small  collection  of  houses, 
and  we  found  to  our  dismay  that  Brigham  Young,  with  some  of 
his  family  and  friends,  on  their  way  south  to  St.  George,  had 
arrived  and  occupied  every  house.  At  last  we  found  a  Danish 
cobbler  who  consented  with  some  reluctance  to  take  us  in  his 
little  adobe  cabin  of  two  rooms. 

While  your  father  attended  to  the  horses  and  to  the  arrange- 
ments for  the   next  day,  Mr.  Ludwigsohn  made  a  great  fire  in 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  TRAVEL  IN  UTAH.  237 

the  "living  room,"  and  his  wife  being  out,  I  surveyed  the 
premises,  while  my  heart  sank  within  me.  A  very  small  room, 
with  one  bed  and  filled  with  chests  and  hanging  clothes  evidently 
of  Danish  manufacture,  and  with  that  indescribable  odor  acquired 
by  age,  sea  voyage,  and  travel — this  apartment  was  intended 
to  accomodate  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ludwigsohn,  two  children,  a  young 
brother  and  sister,  and  ourselves,  while  the  "  living  room  "  had 
a  double  settee  for  the  use  of  three  Mormon  brothers  who  had 
come  from  the  next  settlement  to  meet  President  Young.  I  felt 
quite  desperate,  and  suggested  to  Mr.  Ludwigsohn  that  we  might 
occupy  the  settee  in  the  "  living  room, :'  and  not  disturb  the 
rest  of  the  family,  as  the  stage  would  leave  at  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  we  should  not  sleep  much  at  any  rate.  His  wife 
soon  came  in,  and  with  four  children  and  the  four  men,  their 
little  room  was  very  full.  She  gave  us  some  bread  and  milk, 
made  up  the  settee  with  clean  sheets  and  blankets,  and  then 
went  away  to  nurse  a  sick  woman. 

After  discussing  as  usual  their  religious  tenets,  the  father, 
four  children,  and  three  men  went  into  the  bedroom.  Where  or 
how  they  slept  I  cannot  say.  We  kept  up  the  wood  fire  all 
night,  for  it  was  very  cold,  and  of  course  I  could  not  undress ; 
but  I  rolled  myself  up  in  my  plaid,  and  actually  slept  well. 

At  four  in  the  morning  we  arose,  and  your  father  arranged  the 
horses,  one  to  saddle  and  the  other  to  lead.  Pretty  Mrs.  Lud- 
wigsohn returned  from  her  sick  friend  and  gave  us  some  bread 
and  milk.  The  stage,  a  light  spring  cart  for  mail  carriage, 
arriving,  I  mounted  by  the  side  of  the  driver,  a  young  Dane,  and 
we  started  in  the  darkness  of  the  early  morning. 

The  country  was  barren  and  desolate,  a  valley  with  abrupt  hills 
on  each  side.  We  were  three  hours  driving  to  Salinas,  a  most 
forlorn,  wretched  looking  collection  of  huts.     Here  we  stopped 


238  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

to  breakfast,  having  driven  fifteen  miles.  "  Dirty  "  would  not 
express  the  condition  of  the  hut  in  which  we  breakfasted,  or  of 
the  woman  who  ruled  there  and  her  six  children.  To  do  it 
justice  I  must  reserve  it  for  oral  description.  Suffice  it  to  say,  I 
did  breakfast  on  tea,  eggs,  and  bread  and  butter,  while  trying  to 
be  oblivious  of  the  surroundings. 

The  unfortunate  people  of  this  settlement  had  been  driven 
away  many  times  by  the  Indians,  who  seven  years  ago  made  a 
raid  upon  them  and  stole  everything,  cattle,  horses,  grain,  etc., 
leaving  them  absolutely  destitute.  So  much  excuse  can  be  made 
for  their  poverty,  but  not  much  for  their  filth. 

On  leaving  Salinas  we  found  ourselves  in  Sevier  valley,  and 
after  driving  some  three  miles  came  to  a  gully  in  the  road,  about 
ten  feet  deep,  called  Lost  Creek.  Here  the  driver  advised  me 
to  jump  out,  as,  he  remarked,  "  Wagons  generally  upset  in  this 
mean  hollow."  I  did  not  require  a  second  suggestion,  but  jumped 
out  over  the  wheel.  Down  went  the  horses,  down  went  the 
wagon  over  the  holes  and  rocks  at  the  bottom,  not  wrecked,  but 
stranded.  Your  father  and  the  driver  were  obliged  to  unharness 
the  horses,  pull  up  the  wagon,  and  finally  succeeded  in  righting 
the  whole  concern  upon  the  opposite  bank  without  other  damage 
than  breaking  the  bit  of  the  led  pony.  Meanwhile  I  was  in  high 
spirits,  as  I  had  been  saved  from  the  agony  of  going  down  with 
the  horses  and  wagon. 

We  continued  our  road  on  the  east  side  of  the  valley,  follow- 
ing the  foot  hills  for  seven  miles,  when  we  entered  a  mountain 
pass  called  the  "Twist,"  which  exceeded  all  the  roads  I  had 
ever  heard  of  for  misery.  It  was  originally  an  Indian  trail  wind- 
ing round  and  about  the  foot  of  little  hills,  and  had  been  much 
washed  away  by  the  late  storm.  Sometimes  the  right  wheel 
would  be  on  a  high  bank  and  the  left  wheel  in  a  deep  rut ;  then 


IMPRESS TO JVS  OF  TRAVEL  IN  UTAH.  239 

these  conditions  would  be  reversed.  The  descents  were  not  long, 
but  nearly  perpendicular,  and  the  wagon  jumped  up  and  down 
and  swayed  about  like  a  ship  in  a  heavy  sea. 

This  state  of  things  continued  for  five  or  six  miles,  during 
which  time  I  said  many  prayers.  We  reached  Glenwood,  a  small 
settlement,  about  twelve  o'clock,  and  I  entered  the  postmaster's 
house  to  warm  myself.  His  wife  opened  the  mail-bag,  and  I  had 
much  quiet  amusement  at  the  distribution  of  the  letters.  Four 
or  five  children  assisted  ;  the  baby  played  with  the  postal  cards, 
and  the  odd  letters  were  put  away  in  a  stocking  box.  We  dined 
with  these  people,  and  then  drove  across  to  the  west  side  of  the 
valley,  to  a  settlement  called  Richfield,  making  our  day's  journey 
thirty-seven  miles. 

We  found  this  small  town  in  great  excitement,  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  President  Young.  I  had  risen  at  four  o'clock  that 
morning,  and  now  sat  in  the  wagon  waiting  for  shelter  until  six 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  Judge  Morrison,  the  postmaster, 
coining  into  the  village  with  the  President,  kindly  offered  his 
hospitality.  His  wife  was  down  south  on  a  visit,  but  her  four 
small  children,  fourteen,  ten,  eight,  and  five  years  of  age,  were 
keeping  house.  The  Judge  lived  on  the  next  block  with  another 
Mrs.  Morrison. 

This  lady  came  round  and  arranged  a  bed  for  us,  while  we 
took  entire  possession  of  the  sitting-room,  lighting  a  great  wood 
fire.  Although  I  found  a  Miss  Morrison  aged  eight  doing  the 
family  washing  in  a  tub  much  larger  than  herself,  and  with  a 
washboard  of  about  her  own  size,  I  doubted  her  capacity  for 
cooking,  and  we  gladly  accepted  the  proposal  of  Mrs.  Morrison 
No.  2,  to  take  our  meals  at  her  house.  We  remained  one  day 
in  Richfield  to  recruit. 

Our  next  journey  being  forty  miles  through  the  mountain 


24o  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

pass  of  the  Sevier,  and  through  the  famous  Clear  Creek  canon, 
I  did  not  venture  to  attempt  it  on  horseback,  and  your  father 
engaged  Judge  Morrison  to  carry  me  through  in  a  light  spring 
wagon,  and  to  lead  my  horse. 

We  accordingly  left  Richfield  on  Friday  morning  at  nine 
o'clock.  The  wind  commenced  to  blow  on  the  previous  after- 
noon, and  howled  and  whistled  all  night,  filling  me  with  many 
forebodings  for  our  journey.  Although  it  still  continued  very 
strong  in  the  morning,  the  clouds  seemed  to  follow  the  ranges  of 
mountains  on  each  side  of  the  valley,  and  we  hoped  for  a  clear 
day.  We  should  have  started  at  seven  o'clock  for  a  forty  miles 
mountain  journey  in  these  short  days,  but  the  Judge  is  one  of 
those  unfortunate  men  who  leave  their  properties  and  belongings 
out  of  repair,  trusting  that  the  Providence  of  the  shiftless  will 
carry  them  through  every  necessity  and  danger.  His  horses  he 
represented  as  fine  animals,  but  they  proved  to  be  unfitted  for 
travelling,  having  been  used  entirely  for  ploughing  and  teaming. 

We  drove  down  the  valley,  twelve  miles  over  a  level  plain  of 
sage-brush,  to  a  wretched-looking  hamlet  of  adobe  huts,  called 
Joseph  City,  situated  at  the  extremity  of  the  Sevier  valley.  The 
wind,  although  very  strong,  was  from  the  south,  and  not  as 
piercing  as  it  might  have  been  from  another  direction,  but  it  was 
in  our  faces  and  very  uncomfortable".  After  leaving  Joseph  City 
we  turned  to  the  west,  making  our  way  over  and  through  the  foot 
hills  at  the  edge  of  the  mountains,  following  the  windings  of  the 
Sevier  river. 

At  one  o'clock  we  arrived  after  four  hours'  driving,  at  the 
entrance  of  the  mountain  pass  called  Clear  Creek  canon.  Here 
we  found  a  camp  of  teamsters  and  a  fire,  and  we  stopped  to  rest 
and  feed  the  horses  and  to  lunch.  While  thus  occupied  the  sun 
disappeared  behind  a  gray  bank  of  clouds  that  loomed  over  the 


IMPRESSIOA'S  OF  TRAVEL  IN  UTAH.  241 

mountains.  Very  soon  came  some  premonitory  drops,  and  before 
we  could  get  on  the  wagon  cover  and  attach  the  horses,  we  were 
overtaken  by  a  heavy  rain.  There  was  no  shelter  and  no  course 
before  us  but  to  proceed  and  face  the  storm,  which  now  descended 
the  sides  of  the  opposite  mountain  in  driving  sheets  of  sleet. 

The  mountains  were  very  high  and  the  passage  narrow,  allow- 
ing room  for  only  the  creek  and  the  road  ;  and  as  we  slowly  as- 
cended, winding  about,  the  wind  fiercely  facing  us  at  every  turn, 
the  rain  changed  to  snow,  and  we  soon  found  ourselves  in  a 
whirling  tempest  of  rain,  sleet,  snow,  hail,  and  wind,  while  the 
howling,  near  and  distinct,  of  some  wolves  on  the  mountain  gave 
us  an  intimation  of  our  probable  fate,  should  any  disaster  befall 
the  horses  or  vehicle. 

Still  we  plodded  on,  urging  our  horses  to  their  best ;  the 
scenery,  at  all  times  grand,  magnificent,  sublime,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances became  really  terrible.  Sometimes  we  were  covered 
with  snow,  then  the  sleet  would  come,  and  it  would  change  to 
ice,  and  my  wraps  were  frozen  stiff  about  me  ;  the  rain  and  the 
snow  dripped  over  me,  and  I  was  wet  through.  Your  father 
galloped  on  to  keep  himself  from  freezing,  as  he  had  no  shelter, 
even  of  a  wagon  cover.  Unfortunately  the  Judge  had  omitted 
to  bring  strings  for  the  cover,  and  it  could  not  be  secured  at  the 
sides  ;  the  wind,  coming  in  great  gusts,  would  raise  it,  frozen 
and  stiff  as  it  was,  and  shake  it  until  it  seemed  sometimes  as  if 
we  should  be  carried  off   in  the  whirlwind. 

Each  turn  made  the  scene  more  grand  and  more  fearful.  The 

famous  gap  in  the  mountains,  where  they  rise  in  great  palisades 

of  rock  on  each  side,  is   a  perfect  wonder  of  nature,  and  the 

entire  pass,  twenty  miles  in  length,  in  sunshiny  weather  must  be 

of  surpassing  beauty  ;    but  as  we  were  exposed  to  the  tempest, 

the  moments  seemed  hours,  and  the  hours  were  Ions'. 

16 


242  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

At  every  turn  we  made,  new  mountains  seemed  to  block  our 
path,  and  when  we  vainly  hoped  the  summit  had  been  reached, 
the  little  brook  would  come  gurgling  down  as  if  to  mock  our 
anxious  hearts. 

It  was  twenty  minutes  to  five  o'clock  when  we  really  reached 
the  summit.  The  storm  had  then  abated  a  little,  but  the  day- 
light was  almost  gone,  and  we  had  long  and  steep  descents  of 
nearly  six  miles  before  we  could  reach  the  valley  and  the  shelter 
of  Cove  Fort.  Judge  Morrison  did  not  know  the  road,  and  it 
soon  became  so  dark  that  we  were  obliged  to  trust  to  the  horses. 
Your  father  took  the  lead,  and  we  followed  in  the  wagon.  It  was 
ten  hours  since  we  started  from  Richfield,  and  for  five  of  the  ten 
I  had  been  exposed  to  the  driving  storm  ;  and  now  again  there 
gathered  and  broke  over  us  a  tempest  of  wind,  hail,  and  rain, 
and  I  was  quite  broken  down  and  in  despair.  I  thought  we 
must  surely  perish  in  the  darkness,  when  a  shout  from  your 
father  and  a  stream  of  light  from  an  open  door  proved  to  us  that 
we  had  at  last  found  a  refuge  in  Cove  Fort." 

I  doubt  not  that  the  writer  for  the  occasion,  in  depicting  the 
adventure  happily  ending  at  Cove  Fort,  has  convinced  those  of 
her  sex  who  may  propose  to  follow  her  through  Utah,  that  there 
are  some  inconveniences  and  possible  dangers  in  the  way. 

There  are  truly  many  annoyances  and  some  perils  quite  un- 
avoidable on  a  journey  like  this,  but  these  as  well  as  the  enjoy- 
able incidents  work  up  admirably  into  winter  drawing-room  tales. 
In  this  case,  leaving  out  of  the  account  the  feminine  trials,  which 
must  draw  sympathy  from  feminine  hearts,  there  was  not  a  little 
in  the  passage  through  the  canon  in  the  wild  storm  and  the  dark- 
ness of  the  night  that  made  the  clanger  far  from  imaginary. 

With  an  inexperienced  guide,  a  pair  of  broken-down  horses, 
a  treacherous  road  covered  with  snow,  alternate  jrusts  of  snow 


FORT  COVE.  243 

hail,  and  rain,  the  freezing  of  garments  until  they  became 
stiff  as  boards,  no  habitation  within  many  miles — these  were 
circumstances  in  which  no  lady  would  care  to  be  placed  for  the 
purpose  of  enjoying  scenery. 

For  my  own  part,  as  I  ranged  along  ahead  on  horseback, 
hoping  to  discover  some  place  where  we  might  find  shelter,  the 
pelting  hail  blinding  my  eyes,  I  had  little  leisure,  inclination,  or 
opportunity  to  gaze  about  at  the  wonders  of  this  grand  defile.  In 
one  instance  only,  and  that  lasting  but  a  moment,  as  I  rode  upon 
the  narrow  track  by  the  side  of  the  torrent,  where  the  chasm  at 
most  was  fifty  feet  wide,  did  the  storm  relent,  so  that  I  could 
look  aloft  two  thousand  feet,  where  the  overhanging  cliffs  came 
so  closely  together  that  the  leaden  sky  made  but  a  thin  strip 
overhead. 

Fort  Cove  was  built  by  the  Mormons  twelve  years  ago,  for  a 
place  of  refuge,  when  the  Indians  were  committing  their  depre- 
dations. Now  it  was  a  welcome  refuge  for  us.  A  family  is 
maintained  here  for  the  purpose  of  affording  entertainment  to 
travellers,  many  of  whom  pass  this  way  on  their  road  to  the  south 
and  to  Nevada.  We  paid  little  attention  to  its  massive  walls 
and  battlements  when  we  arrived,  but  the  blaze  sent  out  by  the 
cheerful  fire  upon  our  dark  surroundings,  as  the  door  was  thrown 
open,  warmed  our  hearts  with  gratitude  to  those  who  had  pro- 
vided this  asylum. 

The  idea  of  building  the  fort  and  afterward  devoting  it  to  its 
present  purpose  originated  with  Brigham  Young.  As  we  took 
possession  of  the  room  he  had  vacated  in  the  morning,  we  prayed 
the  good  Lord  to  forgive  him  his  sins  and  to  put  this  good  work 
to  his  credit  in  account. 

In  the  morning  we  took  a  survey  of  the  fortress.  It  stands 
at  the  outlet   of   the    Sevier  pass,  through  which  we  travelled 


244  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

the  previous  night.  There  is  a  lofty  background  of  moun- 
tains in  the  east,  an  extinct  volcano  on  the  south ;  on  the  north 
and  the  west  are  spread  out  the  extensive  plains  of  Dog  valley, 
the  Beaver  range  looming  up  twenty-five  miles  beyond.  The 
walls  of  the  fort  are  of  solid  limestone,  eighteen  feet  high  and. 
one  hundred  feet  each  side  of  its  square.  It  is  not  intended  for 
a  defence  against  artillery,  but  opposed  to  a  moderate  cannon- 
ading, it  would  stand  for  a  long  time. 

The  Indian  outbreaks  which  have  three  times  within  the  last 
twelve  years  partially  desolated  the  neighboring  settlements,  may 
possibly  recur,  and  Fort  Cove  revert  to  its  original  use.  The 
ferocity  of  the  untamable  Indian  nature  is  liable  to  crop  out  at  any 
moment.  Should  one  of  them  be  killed  in  a  quarrel,  or  even 
accidentally,  a  general  raid  on  the  peaceful  farmers  will  be  likely 
to  ensue,  and  murder,  rape,  and  arson  will  follow  in  its  train.  It 
is  well  that  this  place  of  refuge  remains,  to  which  men,  women, 
and  children  may  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come. 

Here  the  Mormons  have  tried  to  domesticate  a  few  of  the 
Utes.  Last  year  they  began  the  experiment  mildly  by  breaking 
up  the  land  and  planting  wheat  for  them,  only  requiring  the  lazy 
aborigines  to  take  off  their  own  crops.  Unfortunately  an  early 
frost  killed  the  wheat.  The  Indians  attributed  this  to  the  Divine 
displeasure  at  their  abandonment  of  their  primitive  habits,  and 
consequently  very  few  of  the  half-tamed  creatures  will  be  induced 
to  try  it  again. 

Angutseeds — Red  Ant — is  the  chief  of  this  tribe  of  Utes.  He 
is  a  friend  of  the  whites,  and  possesses  considerable  influence 
not  only  over  his  immediate  dependents,  but  with  the  other  tribes 
in  southern  Utah. 

This  instance  will  show  how  a  great  war  may  arise  from  a 
trifling  provocation.     Fourteen  or  fifteen  years  ago  a  chief,  the 


THE  UTE  INDIANS.  245 

notorious  Black  Hawk,  went  to  a  person  at  St.  Peter's,  with 
whom  some  flour  had  been  left  for  him  by  the  Indian  agent.  The 
man  was  drunk,  and  whipped  Black  Hawk.  The  chief  took  re- 
venge by  murdering  a  herdsman.  The  herdsman's  friends  killed 
another  Indian,  and  these  murders  originated  a  war  which  lasted 
three  years  and  cost  $1,500,000  and  numerous  lives. 

Red  Ant  did  all  in  his  power  to  restrain  the  others,  but 
was  in  this  case  unsuccessful.  In  several  instances  he  has 
prevented  quarrels  which  might  have  had  equally  fatal  results. 
Tamaritz — White  Horse  chief,  who  sometimes  calls  himself 
Chenowicket — "  saved  by  Almighty  power  " — is  another  celeb- 
rity among  the  Utes,  with  whom  the  settlers  are  now  on  friendly 
terms. 

"  Ah,"  said  the  bishop,  who  gave  us  many  Indian  incidents, 
"we  have  had  a  hard  time  in  keeping  peace  as  well  as  in  fight- 
ing these  Lamanites,  but  our  greatest  enemies  have  been  the 
white  men,  for  they  have  always  been  the  aggressors.  We  ask 
no  aid  from  the  Government,  only  this — let  it  keep  its  agents 
away." 

Formerly  the  Moquis  tribe  was  powerful  in  these  regions. 
They  had  a  civilization  of  their  own,  living  partly  in  towns.  At 
Richfield  some  ruins  of  their  dwellings  were  pointed  out,  and 
we  picked  up  some  specimens  of  their  crockery  which  proved 
that  they  were  advanced  in  manufacturing  skill  far  beyond  the 
Indians  of  the  present  clay.  Two  or  three  hundred  years  ago, 
after  many  bloody  battles,  they  were  finally  driven  beyond  the 
Colorado,  by  the  victorious  Utes. 

The  Navajos  still  remaining  in  Utah,  like  all  the  other  tribes 
nomadic  in  their  habits,  are  wonderfully  proficient  in  weaving 
cloth.  We  purchased  some  of  their  blankets,  beautifully  woven 
in  variegated  colors,  and  perfectly  impervious  to  water.     The 


246  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

mills  of  Manchester  or  Lowell  have  never  produced  anything  of 
the  kind  that  can  equal  them. 

Beaver  lies  twenty-five  miles  south  of  Cove  Fort.  We 
intended  to  continue  our  tour  to  that  town,  having  travelled 
already  two  hundred  and  forty  miles  in  a  southerly  direction 
from  Salt  Lake,  but  the  shocking  condition  of  the  roads,  and 
the  prospects  of  more  inclement  weather,  were  considerations 
inducing  us  to  return  from  this  point. 

The  homeward  route  led  us  over  an  entirely  different  ground. 
We  now  returned  by  way  of  the  valleys  on  the  west  of  the  ranges, 
which  had  been  upon  our  right. 

Twenty-five  miles  from  Cove  Fort  are  the  two  adjoining 
nominally  Indian  settlements  of  Corn  Creek  and  Kanosh.  In 
the  former  we  made  a  short  stay  for  dinner.  Kanosh  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  dwelling  place  of  the  chief  of  that  name.  Here 
he  owns  an  adobe  hut  where  he  keeps  a  squaw,  while  he  ranges 
the  mountains  and  valleys  in  an  independent  way,  on  his  own 
account. 

Kanosh  is  a  devout  Mormon.  He  preaches  to  his  tribe  "  to 
love  God,  and  not  to  drink  whiskey,  or  tea  and  coffee  ;  to  love 
God  because  he  is  good,  to  hate  whiskey  because  it  is  bad,  and 
to  abstain  from  tea  and  coffee  because  they  are  dear."  Not  a 
bad  Indian  that,  General  Sheridan,  after  all  ! 

Fillmore,  once  the  seat  of  the  territorial  government  is  a 
pretty  village  of  two  thousand  inhabitants.  The  town  and  the 
county  of  Millard,  of  which  it  is  the  capital,  were  both  named 
in  honor  of  the  President,  who  was  in  office  at  the  time  of  their 
settlement.  Fillmore  is  about  forty  miles  north  of  Cove  Fort. 
The  road  approaching  it  from  the  south  is  dreary,  and  possesses 
no  attractions  beyond  those  of  the  sublime  mountains  that  ever 
wall  the  sides  of  our  way.     An  old  volcano  looms  up  in  the  west, 


SCIPIO.  247 

which  has  been  an  active  operator  in  its  day.  Immense  blocks 
of  lava  are  strewn  for  many  miles  over  the  plain,  and  from  the 
mountain  side  there  runs  far  to  the  north  a  black  wall  once  a 
stream  of  fire- 
There  is  a  good  hotel  at  Fillmore,  its  chief  attraction.  Re- 
freshed by  its  excellent  larder,  we  pursued  our  way  the  next 
morning,  making  a  short  day's  journey  of  twenty-eight  miles,  to 
Scipio.  This  is  a  wretched  little  hamlet,  looking  more  wretched 
still  after  passing  through  Holden,  an  American  settlement, 
where  the  houses  are  all  of  frame  or  brick,  and  the  appearance 
of  the  people  emphatically  what  is  called  "  well-to-do." 

Scipio,  if  he  is  an  uneasy  spirit,  wandering  about  in  the  hope 
that  some  polygamist  will  provide  him  with  a  "  tabernacle," 
must  wonder  why  his  name  was  disgraced  by  attaching  it  to  this 
little  collection  of  Danish  hovels.  It  is  better  to  be  a  spirit  of 
the  air  than  to  live  in  any  tabernacle  here. 

The  situation  is  as  charming  as  can  be  imagined.  In  the 
centre  of  a  green  meadow,  aptly  called  Round  valley,  it  is  closely 
circled  by  a  range  of  high  mountains,  a  tiara  of  snow  now  crown- 
ing their  summits.  We  were  almost  inclined  to  camp  in  the 
streets  of  the  village,  but  the  uncertainty  of  the  weather  obliged 
us  to  seek  lodgings  under  some  roof. 

The  bishop  was  not  at  home,  and  the  bishopess  (if  we  may 
coin  a  new  name)  No.  1  was  notable  to  accommodate  us,  as  she 
had  a  large  family  of  children  requiring  all  her  room.  She  said 
that  she  knew  of  no  other  place  where  we  could  find  shelter. 
Here  was  an  illustration  of  polygamous  jealousy,  for  we  after- 
ward discovered  that  bishopess  No.  2  had  one  of  the  best  houses 
in  the  village,  small,  it  is  true,  but  tolerably  comfortable. 

This  more  amiable  young  woman  gave  us  a  room,  and  with 
her  sister  joined  us  in  a  game  of  cards.     Occasionally  the  poor 


248  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

little  bishopess  would  start  at  any  noise  from  the  outside,  with 
evident  fear  that  the  virago  was  coming  in  upon  us.  It  is  not 
unlikely  that  when  their  joint  head  came  home  she  was  made  to 
suffer  for  hospitality  to  unbelieving  Gentiles. 

On  the  following  clay  we  went  on  through  Juab  valley,  stop- 
ping at  a  small  village  called  Chicken  Creek.  Here  a  young 
gentleman,  who  was  tending  sheep,  informed  us  that  he  came 
from  "  Ioway  "  two  years  ago.  "  Father,"  he  said,  "  told  us  all 
along  the  road  that  we  was  coming  to  Zion.  Well,  this  is  the 
cussedest  old  Zion  I  ever  want  to  see.  I'd  rather  have  a  foot  of 
ground  in  Ioway,  than  all  these  here  mountings  of  the  Lord,  and 
I  guess  the  Lord  would  too  if  he  had  ever  seen  Ioway!  "  After 
riding  forty  miles  from  Scipio,  we  reached  Nephi  in  the  evening. 

In  the  morning  we  turned  from  the  main  road  with  the  pur- 
pose of  visiting  the  Tintec  valley  and  mining  camps.  There  is 
scarcely  a  mountain  in  Utah  where  silver  may  not  be  found. 
There  are  mines  of  low  grade  ore  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
Nephi  on  Mt.  Nebo.  These  will  not  yield  any  profit  until  fuel 
becomes  cheaper,  but  at  some  future  day  their  value  will  be 
assured.  The  Tintec  mines  being  of  a  higher  grade,  and  mostly 
producing  milling  ore,  are  not  so  dependent  upon  the  cost  of 
coal  and  coke. 

We  had  been  rather  unfortunate  in  being  misguided  on  more 
than  one  occasion.  This  time  a  young  man  was  also  going  on 
horseback  to  Tintec.  He  knew  the  trail  perfectly.  He  had 
driven  cattle  across  frequently.  It  was  eighteen  miles  to  the 
Miller  and  Shoebridge  mills.     He  knew  it.     No,  he  did  not. 

We  started  under  favorable  circumstances,  for  it  was  a 
glorious  day.  Crossing  the  divide,  we  looked  back  through  the 
narrow  vista  formed  by  the  precipitous  cliffs,  upon  the  lofty 
summit  of  Mt.  Nebo,  and  then  descended  into  a  valley,  between 


LOST  ON  THE  DESERT.  24g 

which  and  Tintec  there  is  an  intermediate  range.  Had  the  in- 
telligence of  our  guide  equalled  his  professions,  we  might  have 
crossed  the  narrow  plain  of  separation  and  entered  a  romantic 
canon  that  would  have  speedily  led  us  through  into  the  valley  be- 
yond. But  he  chose  to  follow  a  wagon  track,  the  course  lead- 
ing far  to  the  south  in  order  to  cross  the  spur  of  the  mountains. 
We  travelled  on  over  a  broad  expanse  for  hours,  until  this  point 
was  reached.  Then  rounding  it,  we  made  our  way  again  to  the 
north. 

"  I  guess  we'll  get  out  of  this  now  and  take  a  short  cut  across 
the  sage-brush,"  said  Mr.  Daniels.  Short  cut !  We  wandered  on 
till  the  sun,  having  long  ago  passed  his  meridian,  descended 
over  the  western  peaks  and  left  us  in  approaching  darkness  on  a 
desert  waste,  where  there  was  no  water  for  ourselves  or  for  our 
animals,  no  sign  of  a  habitation,  and  no  hope  of  any  other 
covering  at  night  than  could  be  found  under  the  threatening 
clouds. 

Our  intelligent  leader  had  lost  his  way.  He  was  evidently 
uncertain  if  Tintec  was  in  this  valley  or  the  valley  beyond.  We 
shot  a  jack  rabbit,  and  proposed  soon  to  camp  and  to  make  our 
supper  of  this  providential  supply.  Just  as  we  were  about  to 
resort  to  that  necessity  we  fortunately  struck  the  wagon  road 
again.  Encouraged  with  new  hope,  we  pushed  our  thirsty 
animals  along,  and  were  soon  overjoyed  at  beholding  the  smoke 
from  the  chimneys  of  the  Miller  and  the  Shoebridge  mills. 
Arriving  there  after  this  tedious  journey  of  thirty-five  miles,  we 
were  welcomed,  without  letters  of  introduction,  by  Superin- 
tendent Lusk  and  Secretary  Berkley  of  the  latter  establish- 
ment. 

Captain  Lusk  is  an  old  sailor,  and  I  felt  immediately  at  home 
with  one  of   my  own   profession,  from   which   no   one  has  ever 


250  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

withheld  the  credit  of  generous  hospitality.  We  shall  always 
cherish  with  gratitude  the  kindness  with  which  he  attended  to 
our  necessities,  providing  us  with  a  substantial  supper,  feeding 
our  horses,  and  then,  as  his  accommodations  were  limited, 
though  freely  at  our  disposal,  in  consideration  of  my  wife's 
fatigue  from  her  long  ride  of  thirty-five  miles,  sending  her  in  his 
buggy  six  miles  further,  to  Diamond  City. 

Diamond  City,  a  lucus  a  non  lucendo,  as  it  appeared  to  us  when 
coming  out  from  the  hotel  of  Mrs.  Jones  in  the  morning,  is  the 
chief  mining  camp  of  Tintec.  There  are  others,  Silver  City  and 
Eureka,  rivalling  Diamond  City  in  splendor  and  architectural 
magnificence.  They  are  alike  in  the  style  of  their  bar-rooms  and 
in  the  quality  of  their  "  tanglefoot."  They  all  do  a  good  busi- 
ness, and  yet  they  are  the  most  quiet  mining  camps  we  have 
seen. 

Perhaps  the  hard  journey  of  the  previous  day  gave  us  sounder 
sleep  than  we  usually  enjoyed,  but  certainly  we  were  not  dis- 
turbed by  conventional  noises  in  the  streets,  nor  by  the  shrill 
music  and  the  loud  stamping  of  the  dance-houses.  It  was 
several  days  since  a  murder  had  been  committed. 

It  is  asserted  that  the  ore  of  these  mines  averages  in  value 
$75  per  ton  at  the  dump.  If  ten  dollars  be  assumed  as  the  cost 
of  getting  it  out  and  hauling  it  to  mill,  where  it  is  converted  into 
bullion  at  twenty-five  more,  there  is  a  profit  of  forty  dollars  on 
every  ton. 

But  let  not  the  reader  be  so  sanguine  as  to  come  immediately 
to  Tintec  for  the  purpose  of  making  his  fortune.  There  are 
heavy  expenses  in  continual  development,  great  cost  of  shafts, 
tunnels,  and  timbering.  Sometimes  there  is  a  "pinch."  and  the 
vein  for  many  days,  perhaps  weeks,  is  nearly  lost ;  and  then 
there  are  many  other  contingencies,  expected  and  unexpected, 


THE  TINTEC  MINES.  251 

that  should  enter  into  the  calculations.     The  forty  dollars  suffer 
many  subtractions. 

Division  is  the  safest  mode  of  arithmetic  in  mining  calcula- 
tion. You  are  shown  a  mine  that  will,  beyond  all  doubt,  allow- 
ing for  every  thing,  give  you  forty  per  cent,  annually  on  your  in- 
vestment. Divide  this  by  two.  Result,  twenty  per  cent.  To  be 
a  little  more  sure,  divide  it  again.  Result,  ten  per  cent.  Keep 
on  with  your  division  for  still  greater  security — for  there  is 
nothing  like  being  perfectly  safe — until  you  get  down  to  zero. 
Then,  for  fear  of  any  possibility  that  you  may  be  brought  into 
debt  by  assessments,  inform  the  gentleman  who  is  urging  you  to 
purchase,  that  you  have  concluded  not  to  accept  his  offer.  That 
is  the  only  perfectly  safe  way  of  dealing  in  mines. 

At  Diamond  City  we  met  a  gentleman  from  New  York,  ad- 
vanced in  years.  His  whole  soul  appeared  to  be  centred  in 
mines.  Here  he  stays  through  the  heats  of  summer  and  the 
frosts  of  winter,  daily  superintending  his  workmen,  careless  of 
the  comforts  of  life  that  he  might  enjoy  at  home,  finding  more 
pleasure  in  roughing  it  in  this  little  mining  camp,  than  he  could 
realize  surrounded  by  luxury  and  educated  friends. 

With  him  I  visited  the  Mayflower  and  Gold  Hill  mines, 
■which  certainly  were  rich  in  the  quality  and  abundance  of  their 
ore.  The  ride  to  them  for  three  miles  over  a  bridle  path  cut 
into  the  almost  perpendicular  mountain  cliffs,  affords  an  exten- 
sive view  of  the  Tin  tec  ranges  and  valleys,  embracing  the  whole 
of  this  rich  district.  The  air,  keen  and  invigorating,  was  as 
delicious  to  me  as  the  contemplation  of  prospective  wealth  to 
my  companion.  I  left  him  burrowing  in  his  mining  den,  and 
descending  to  the  village  we  resumed  our  journey. 

Mounting  our  horses  at  noon,  we  kept  on  the  ascent  for  four 
miles  until  reaching  the  divide,  about  seven  thousand  feet  above 


252  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

the  sea  level,  constantly  looking  back  upon  the  great  picture  of 
heights  and  depths  in  the  south  and  west.  But  when  the  highest 
ridge  was  reached,  beyond  which  we  had  as  yet  only  seen  the 
blue  ocean  of  sky,  there  was  presented  to  our  admiring  gaze  one 
of  the  greatest  paintings  ever  touched  by  the  incomparable  hand 
of  nature.  A  long  slope  of  two  thousand  feet  terminated  at  the 
western  shores  of  Utah  Lake,  on  which  the  coloring  from  the 
heavens  had  descended.  The  plains  beyond  it  were  not  per- 
ceptible, for  the  snowy  Wasatch  mountains  seemed  to  have 
drawn  themselves  down  to  its  eastern  edge.  They  were  fifty 
miles  away,  but  the  atmosphere  had  so  closed  the  far  and  near 
together  that  if  some  great  artist  had  stood  beside  us,  he  would 
have  found  the  splendid  immensity,  as  it  were  by  transposing 
the  lens  of  a  camera,  brought  down  to  a  size  that  he  could 
readily  transfer  to  his  canvas. 

We  had  progressed  but  a  mile  or  two  on  our  descent,  when 
ominous  clouds  began  to  gather  on  the  mountain  tops.  Slowly 
they  crept  down  upon  the  plain,  circling  round  to  our  side  of  the 
valley,  and  drawing  their  dark  curtains  over  the  bright  scene  that 
we  had  but  just  contemplated  with  such  infinite  delight.  Then 
came  rain  and  hail  on  the  wings  of  the  howling  wind. 

"  The  sky  was  changed,  and  such  a  change  !  " — a  change  we 
might  well  compare  with  that  witnessed  by  the  great  poet  when 
he  saw  the  placid  Leman  made  angry  by  the  tempest  that  swept 
from  Jura  to  the  joyous  Alps,  as  they  talked  aloud  in  their  shroud 
of  mist.  But  he  saw  all  that  from  the  windows  of  his  hotel. 
Our  experience  was  from  the  saddles  on  our  horses. 

We  galloped  rapidly  on  until  the  plain  was  reached.  Thence, 
passing  through  the  wretched  little  town  of  Goshen,  we  waded 
for  a  few  miles  through  mud  and  darkness,  the  storm  still 
raging,  till  we  arrived  at  the  inn  where  we  had  once  before  been 


RETURN  TO  SALT  LAKE  CITY.  253 

so  agreeably  entertained.     Welcome  again  a  good  coal  fire,  and 
welcome  the  smiling  face  of  little  Mrs.  Macbeth  ! 

On  the  following  daywe  arrived  at  Provo,  having  been  absent 
three  weeks.  Here  we  returned  our  horses,  and  proceeded  by 
rail  to  Salt  Lake.  We  had  leisurely  traversed  a  distance  of  four 
hundred  miles,  having  passed  over  but  eighteen  miles  of  the 
road  for  the  second  time. 


254  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Idaho — Soda  Springs — Natural  Curiosities — The  Utah 
and  Northern  Railroad — A  Jumping  Town — The  Ban- 
nock Indians — Policy  of  the  Government. 

After  visiting  the  renowned  watering-places  of  Germany, 
france  and  America,  we  are  contented  of  late  to  come  year  after 
year  to  this  remote  corner  of  Idaho,  satisfied  that  at  last  we  have 
discovered  the  true  fountains  of  health  in  an  atmosphere  of  purity 
beyond  comparison. 

This  is  Soda  Springs — not  Saratoga  with  its  magnificent 
hotels,  balls,  regattas,  and  races,  not  Carlsbad,  Baden-Baden, 
Kissingen  or  Vichy,  with  their  dolce  far  nietile  under  shady  trees 
and  in  cur-gartens,  where  soft  strains  of  music  usher  in  the  day 
and  lull  one  to  sleep  at  night,  the  only  variations,  the  casinos 
and  booths  where  curiosities  and  coffee  are  sold  by  pretty 
via dchcns ;  where  all  that  is  desired  and  dispensed  is  the  luxury  of 
pleasurable  laziness.  Soda  Springs  is  the  reverse  of  all  this  :  a 
little  hamlet  of  a  dozen  log  huts  far  away  from  the  world  of 
society  and  business,  ensconced  in  a  lovely  valley  seven  thousand 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  with  ranges  of  mountains  two 


SODA  SPRINGS.  255 

thousand  feet  higher  on  every  side  ;  the  rapid  Bear  River,  rush- 
ing through  its  green  meadows,  where  herds  of  cattle,  the  only 
property  of  its  people,  find  choice  pasturage  ;  where  the  warm 
sun  comes  down  by  day,  and  the  cool  breezes  sweep  over  at 
night — this  is  our  summering  place. 

True,  we  have  none  of  the  allurements  of  the  great  spas,  but 
we  have  what  is  far  better,  nature  in  her  wild  majesty,  an  elastic, 
stimulating  air,  curiosities  of  volcanic  formation,  and  what  is  the 
chief  attraction  to  invalids,  an  endless  abundance  and  variety  of 
mineral  springs. 

They  gush  out  of  the  ground,  warm  and  cold,  in  all  directions, 
and  need  no  tubing  to  increase  their  volume,  but  boil  and  sparkle 
in  their  great  pools  like  reservoirs.  The  favorite  springs  are 
chiefly  magnesia,  soda  and  iron,  highly  charged  with  carbonic 
acid  gas,  so  agreeably  refreshing  that  it  is  fortunate  there  are  no 
doctors  to  limit  indulgence  in  their  use.  At  the  continental  spas 
we  did  not  object  to  short  allowances  of  the  nauseating  water. 
Here  we  should  rebel  if  not  allowed  to  drink  our  fill  of  the 
reviving  springs. 

I  would  fain  tell  those  suffering  from  maladies  not  absolutely 
incurable  what  certain  relief  may  be  found  in  these  wonderful 
waters,  and  that  long  and  tedious  as  the  journey  to  reach  them 
may  be,  it  will  amply  repay  their  toil  and  expense  by  its  lasting 
benefit. 

The  place  itself  is  nothing  as  a  town.  It  is  merely  a  sort  of 
Mormon  outpost  beyond  the  confines  of  Utah,  with  scarcely  fifty 
inhabitants.  At  one  time  it  was  of  some  importance  as  a  military 
station,  and  afterward  derived  a  little  business  in  supplying  the 
mining  camp  of  Cariboo,  forty  miles  north  of  it.  The  removal  of 
the  post  to  Fort  Hall,  and  the  failure  of  the  water  at  the  mines, 
have  nearly   depopulated   this  once  thriving  village,  and  unless 


256  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

means  are  found  to  renew  the  working  of  the  mines,  this  settle- 
ment must  rest  its  future  on  its  attractions  as  a  health  resort. 

The  springs  are  resorted  to  from  the  surrounding  country. 
Men,  women  and  children  come  in  great  Bain  wagons,  with  sail- 
cloth awnings,  turn  their  horses  out  to  feed  on  the  wide  prairies, 
make  their  beds  in,  under  and  around  their  vehicles,  gather  cedar 
and  sagebrush  for  their  camp-fires,  and  are  at  home  without 
further  trouble.  In  this  way  they  pass  days  and  weeks,  and  are 
happier  during  their  stay  and  more  robust  on  their  return  than  if 
they  had  indulged  in  the  luxuries  and  dissipations  of  hotels,  in- 
stead of  gaining  their  own  food  by  their  guns  and  rods,  and 
cooking  it  themselves.  The  free  air  of  these  mountains  is  sus- 
tenance beyond  meat  and  drink,  a  consideration  which  few 
invalids  regard.  Most  of  them  are  rigidly  exact  in  diet,  while 
entirely  indifferent  how  much  poison  they  take  in  by  their  lungs. 

There  is  not  much  to  be  said  for  hotel  accommodation  at  the 
springs.  Our  little  party  took  possession  of  a  vacant  log  cabin, 
and  extemporized  chairs,  table  and  bedsteads,  the  latter  rather 
unusual  luxuries  insisted  upon  by  the  ladies.  Our  beds  were 
made  from  fresh  hay,  and  with  the  addition  of  a  cooking  stove, 
obtained  from  a  neighbor, we  were  "  fixed."  Perfectly  independent 
of  butchers,  bakers  and  grocers,  our  only  outside  wants  were  met 
by  the  little  girl  who  brought  us  butter  and  eggs,  and  by  the 
Indians,  who  occasionally  "swapped"  bear  meat  and  venison. 
We  provided  ourselves  abundantly  with  ducks,  geese,  prairie 
chickens  and  trout.  Best  gift  of  freedom*,  there  was  the  absence 
of  the  Irish  Biddy  !  As  to  our  stable,  the  ponies  we  rode  from 
the  railway  station  were  retained  for  daily  service,  and  when  not 
in  use  were  turned  loose  to  get  a  good  living  with  the  herd.  As 
they  were  neither  shod  nor  curried,  we  could  dispense  with 
farriers  and  grooms. 


NATURAL  CURIOSITIES.  257 

Time  never  hung  heavily  on  our  hands,  although  society,  with 
the  exception  of  our  guests,  was  limited.  We  were  amused 
without  the  luxuries  of  lectures,  theatres  or  concerts,  and  on 
Sundays  we  always  attended  the  little  Mormon  meeting,  where 
gathered  the  settlers  of  the  neighborhood. 

People  become  liberal  in  a  country  where  the  very  mountains 
and  rocks  teach  them  that  every  thing  gives  thanks  unto  the  Lord 
who  will  not  refuse  the  sincere  offerings  of  any  men  that  he  has 
made.  Even  our  Congregational  parson  realized  this  sentiment 
when  he  accepted  an  invitation  to  preach.  He  told  the  bishop 
that  there  was  plenty  of  religion  on  which  we  could  all  agree. 
The  latter  replied,  "  Give  us  some  of  that,  then.  You  can't  use 
it  all  up  on  one  Sunday." 

Sometimes  we  "want  a  carriage."  Then  we  hire  a  farm 
wagon  and  drive  where  there  is  a  road  ;  where  there  is  none, 
through  the  sagebrush,  carrying  our  guns  on  the  way  to  visit  the 
Sulphur  Lake,  the  Swan  Lake,  Formation  Springs,  the  Devil's 
Icehouse,  and  other  sights  within  the  radius  of  a  few  miles. 

Sulphur  Lake  is  a  sheet  of  water  an  acre  in  extent,  many  times 
stronger  of  mineral  than  the  springs  of  Sharon  and  Richfield, 
and  bubbling  over  its  whole  surface  with  escaping  gas,  whose 
noise  is  heard  a  mile  away.  Behind  it  is  a  mountain  of  sulphur. 
Its  shore  last  year  was  a  yellow  sulphur  beach,  now  black  as 
charcoal.  A  few  months  before  our  visit,  some  curious  persons, 
anxious  to  know  what  a  literal  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone  was 
like,  visited  the  place  one  dark  evening.  They  dropped  their 
matches  on  the  beach,  and  in  a  moment  found  their  most  vivid 
anticipations  realized.  The  lurid  flames  circled  the  mad,  fuming 
waters,  and  threw  their  light  on  the  crags,  and  thus  these  amateur 
artists  painted  a  horrible  picture,  which  absolutely  scared  them 
as  they  looked  from  fire  to  lake  and  from  lake  to  mountains,  and 

17 


258  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

then  at  the  unearthly  faces  of  each  other.  The  venturous  souls 
carried  away  a  most  vivid  realization  of  the  awful  significance  of 
the  Scripture  allegory  whose  representation  they  had  produced. 
A  few  miles  beyond  is  Swan  Lake,  a  most  pleasing  contrast  to 
this  infernal  pool.  Lying  on  the  top  of  a  high  hill,  it  occupies 
what  must  have  been  the  crater  of  a  volcano.  Its  waters  are  so 
exquisitely  transparent  that  the  bottom  can  be  seen  at  the 
distance  of  sixty  feet,  but  their  alkaline  action  has  coated  the 
rocks  and  fallen  trees  with  a  white  covering,  and  as  one  looks 
over  its  edge  at  any  part  of  its  circumference  of  three  hundred 
yards,  he  sees  that  he  stands  on  a  crust;  for  the  water,  or  its  pre- 
decessor the  fire,  has  eaten  away  the  rock  hundreds  of  feet  under 
the  shores.  This  is  wonderful  and  grand  ;  but  a  prettier  sight  is 
the  escape  of  the  water  as  it  seems  loth  to  run  down  to  the  plains, 
but  leaps  in  silver  cascades  from  one  moss-crowned  basin  to 
another  in  lovelv  embellishments,  the  sight  of  which  would  reward 
a  landscape  gardener  for  his  journey. 

The  Formation  Springs  are  courses  of  water  constantly 
changing  their  currents,  leaving  deposits,  petrifying  trees  and 
bushes,  and  creating  substances  like  the  brittle  coral  of  the  sea. 
They  have  hollowed  out  large  caves,  frescoing  their  walls  with 
festoons  of  white  drapery,  and  then,  finding  a  subterranean 
•outlet,  have  disappeared  beneath  the  surface,  how  deep  no  one 
-can  tell,  until  three  miles  below  the  darkened  stream  rushes  up 
again  to  the  light  of  day,  and  runs  sparkling  to  the  river. 

Down  the  valley  in  another  direction  is  the  old  volcano.  It 
is  more  easily  climbed  than  Vesuvius,  and  its  ashes  have  been 
blown  away  or  have  consolidated  themselves  during  the  ages 
since  the  crater  emitted  its  fires,  but  far  around  lie  the  huge 
blocks  of  lava,  and  the  earth  is  ploughed  into  gigantic  furrows  of 
stone. 


THE  UTAH  AND  NORTHERN  RAILROAD.  259 

What  we  have  named  "  the  Devil's  Icehouse,"  was  but  lately 
discovered.  Some  young  men  on  a  hunting  excursion  found  a 
deep  cave  where  snow  and  ice  could  be  seen  at  the  bottom.  We 
went  up  to  visit  the  place,  and  our  party  was  the  first  to  explore 
it.  There  we  found  hundreds  of  tons  of  pure  ice,  from  which  we 
brought  home  a  supply.  It  is  a  permanent  icehouse,  not  affected 
by  the  upper  air,  which  marked  eighty-five  degrees,  while  in  the 
cavern  the  glass  stood  at  twenty-nine. 

Compare  such  wonders  as  these  with  the  sights  and  curiosities 
of  a  German  spa  !  I  do  not  mean  to  be  enthusiastic,  but  take 
all  the  famous  watering-places  of  Europe,  with  the  little  that 
nature  and  the  much  that  art  has  done  for  them — combine  them 
all,  and  you  will  find  that  this  wild  sanitarium  of  the  Idaho 
Mountains  will  send  you  back  to  your  home  with  better  health 
and  more  interesting  recollections  when  your  summer  is  ended. 

The  most  convenient  way  to  reach  Soda  Springs  from  the 
East  is  by  the  Union  Pacific  to  its  terminus  at  Ogden,  where  the 
"  Utah  and  Northern  "  narrow  gauge  railroad  branches  north  to 
Montana,  at  the  same  point  whence  the  Utah  Central  runs  in  an 
opposite  direction  to  Salt  Lake  City. 

This  Utah  and  Northern  Railroad,  commenced  by  a  company 
whose  capital  soon  became  exhausted,  was  seized  by  those  terri- 
ble monopolists,  Sidney  Dillon  and  Jay  Gould,  and  by  them 
started  into  new  life  and  a  prospective  career  of  prosperity.  In 
the  estimation  of  Mr.  Kearney  this  was  probably  unjustifiable. 
The  enterprise  should  have  remained  passive  until  labor  could 
have  completed  it  without  the  aid  of  money.  The  new  company 
has  made  it  an  important  auxiliary  to  the  Union  Pacific  line,  to 
which  it  will  largely  contribute  from  the  traffic  with  Idaho  and 
Montana. 

Indeed  the  unexpected  success  of  the  main  trunk  road  from 


2 Go  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

the  Eastern  States  to  the  Pacific  is  attributable  to  such  enter- 
prises as  these.  It  is  no  more  than  justice  to  the  present  man- 
agers to  say  that  by  their  energy  and  capital  they  have  brought 
it  to  a  position  not  attainable  by  any  other  means.  The  road 
would  have  been  bankrupt  long  ago  but  for  the  business  they 
have  made  along  its  line,  in  the  lateral  branches,  which,  unlike 
the  branches  of  a  tree,  bring  nourishment  to  it  instead  of  taking 
it  away. 

The  Utah  and  Northern  line  was  already  in  operation  one 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  miles  in  a  north-west  direction  from 
Ogden  to  its  temporary  terminus  at  Oneida.  That  is  the  nearest 
point  from  which  Soda  Springs  may  be  reached  over  a  wagon 
road  of  thirty-two  miles.  It  is  possible,  if  the  recent  gold  dis- 
coveries at  Cariboo  are  as  productive  as  is  anticipated,  that  at  an 
early  period  a  branch  may  be  built  from  Oneida.  This,  moreover, 
would  be  the  easiest  way  of  reaching  the  Yellowstone  Park. 

At  present  that  magnificent  national  domain  is  almost  inac- 
cessible. I  am  no  advocate  of  subsidies  for  the  benefit  of  indi- 
viduals or  corporations,  but  in  this  instance  it  may  be  suggested 
that  a  vast  pleasure-ground  like  the  Yellowstone  is  of  little  use 
to  the  people  unless  the  donor  adds  to  the  gift  the  opportunity 
of  approaching  it.  The  Utah  and  Northern  Railroad  takes  us 
to  Oneida  in  the  direction  of  the  Park,  and  then  goes  about 
its  business  to  the  North-west.  The  settlers  of  Idaho  and  Mon- 
tana hail  with  joy  every  rail  that  is  laid  down  for  their  benefit. 
They  have  been  too  long  condemned  to  journeys  of  from  three 
to  five  hundred  miles  in  stage-coaches,  and  to  the  payment  of 
enormous  and  slow  wagon  freights,  not  to  realize  the  benefit  con. 
ferred  upon  them.  Already  the  track  is  advanced  forty  miles 
beyond  Oneida  through  the  Bannock  Reservation,  and  soon  the 
new  terminus  will  be  beyond  it. 


A  JUMPING  TOWN.  261 

Oneida  is  an  itinerant  town.  It  journeys  onward  as  the  road 
progresses.  Hotels,  houses,  stores,  saloons,  stables  and  all 
other  buildings  are  put  up  in  sections  marked  and  numbered. 
When  the  active  Superintendent  Mr.  Dunn  gives  the  order,  the 
whole  town  is  taken  to  pieces  in  two  days,  packed  on  the  train, 
and  with  all  its  inhabitants  moved  to  the  next  stopping  place. 

New  streets  are  then  laid  out,  and  a  new  city,  formed  of  the 
old  materials,  springs  into  life,  flourishing  until  fifty  miles  more 
of  railroad  is  completed.  Then  it  moves  again.  Thus  it  will 
continue  to  move  till  the  travelling  municipality  is  merged  in 
the  permanent  city  of  Virginia  or  Helena,  at  whichever  of  them 
the  road  may  terminate. 

Oneida  seemed  to  us  full  of  life  and  vigor.  As  we  came  out 
from  our  tent-covered  hotel  in  the  morning,  horses,  wagons  and 
teamsters  were  camped  far  and  near.  The  men  were  turning 
out,  rubbing  their  eyes,  accounting  for  the  infernal  racket  of 
music  and  dancing  we  had  heard  in  the  night,  when  saloons  and 
faro  tables  were  doing  a  profitable  business. 

The  train  had  come  in  loaded  with  freight  of  all  kinds  of  mer- 
chandise and  agricultural  tools.  Twenty-six  wagons  with  their 
four-horse  teams  were  drawn  up  at  the  station  waiting  to  reload 
and  begin  their  long  journey  of  three  hundred  mites,  and  the 
coaches  were  off  already  with  their  passengers.  Their  owners  and 
drivers  will  doubtless  regret  every  shortening  of  fifty  miles,  but 
the  owners  of  the  goods  and  the  tired  travellers  will  rejoice.  Many 
more  wagons  with  their  downward  freights  of  bullion,  and  ores  of 
silver,  copper  and  lead,  were  discharging  their  loads,  and  our 
hotel  was  filled  with  jaded,  dusty  passengers,  who  congratulated 
themselves  on  the  comfort  in  store  for  them  in  the  easy  motion 
and  rapid  transit  of  a  railroad  car.  Each  of  the  coaches  that 
had  arrived  carried  three  of  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.'s  messengers, 


262  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

with  double-barrelled  guns,  loaded  with  buckshot,  and  they  were 
preceded  by  forerunners  on  horseback  armed  in  the  same  way. 
This  is  the  habitual  style  of  travelling  in  these  territories,  and 
do  you  wonder  if  the  new  style  is  a  welcome  improvement  ? 

When  I  had  occasion  to  visit  Oneida  three  weeks  afterwards, 
it  had  taken  a  short  jump  of  twenty-two  miles.  Its  last  situation 
was  on  the  eastern  border  of  the  Bannock  Reservation,  and  it 
was  intended  by  the  railroad  company  that  it  should  make  a 
flying  leap  across  the  forbidden  ground  to  the  banks  of  the 
Snake  River.  But  as  this  was  not  practicable  before  the  winter 
might  set  in,  a  compromise  was  made  with  the  Indian  Agency, 
whereby  no  liquor  was  to  be  sold,  and  so  the  town  was  permit- 
ted to  make  a  temporary  stand  on  this  nominal  ground  of  the 
Redskins.  Of  course,  there  were  no  "  saloons,"  for  what  is  a 
saloon  without  whiskey,  and  what  is  a  railroad  town  or  any 
other  town  in  this  western  country  without  both  ? 

All  the  noise,  bustle,  snap  crack  and  devil-may-care  exhila- 
ration that  pervaded  Oneida  by  night  and  day  were  consequently 
wanting  in  this  new  settlement  of  Black  Rock.  The  coaches 
and  wagons  were  drawn  up  at  the  station  to  receive  their  passen- 
gers and  freight.  They  earned  their  money,  but  it  seemed  to 
afford  no  pleasure,  for  they  came  and  went  like  funeral  proces- 
sions, mourning  because  whiskey  was  not.  Nevertheless,  I 
apprehend  that  the  real  business  of  the  country  did  not  suffer 
by  the  deprivation.  Every  mile  gained  in  the  direction  of  Mon- 
tana is  a  step  leading  to  the  comfort  of  individuals  and  the 
prosperity  of  the  nation. 

The  extension  through  Marsh  valley  winds  along  on  a  level 
surface  smoothed  out  by  nature  among  great  bowlders  of  lava, 
which,  if  continuous,  would  have  defied  engineering  science, 
giant  powder  and  money.    Before  we  came  to  this  slightly  down- 


A  JUMPING  TOWN.  263 

ward  slope  we  ascended  the  grade  until  we  passed  through  a 
narrow  gate-way,  whose  buttresses  of  encircling  mountains  stand 
perpendicular  but  a  few  feet  from  either  side  of  the  track. 

In  remote  ages  this  must  have  been  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  which  has  now  receded  more  than  a 
hundred  miles  south.  Precisely  in  this  gate-way  the  water- 
springs  now  divide,  part  of  them  trickling  down  to  Snake  River, 
and  thence  through  the  Columbia  to  the  Pacific  in  the  channel 
forced  by  the  disruption,  and  the  others  seeking  the  level  of 
Salt  Lake. 

The  "  bench  marks  "  easily  traced  through  all  the  valleys  to 
Southern  Utah  showing  the  former  flow  of  the  water,  begin  at 
these  enormous  gate-posts,  and  keep  their  exact  line  of  altitude 
for  four  hundred  miles.  Repeatedly  in  journeying  across  the 
country  we  traced  these  indications,  and  it  is  absolutely  demon- 
strable that  what  is  now  called  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  was  once  an 
inland  sea  not  less  than  four  hundred  miles  from  north  to  south, 
and  two  hundred  from  east  to  west,  more  than  twice  the  size  of 
Lake  Superior.  The  long  chain  of  the  Wasatch  Mountains  was 
its  eastern  barrier,  while  it  spread  itself  over  a  great  part  of 
Utah  and  Nevada  in  the  west,  and  of  Idaho  at  the  north.  Its 
recession  has  left  bare  the  Cache  and  Salt  Lake  valley  and  their 
connections,  as  well  as  what  is  called  the  Great  American  Desert, 
through  which  the  Central  Pacific  road  is  built. 

Probably  there  is  no  area  on  the  continent  more  barren  in  its 
natural  state  than  this  old  lake  bottom,  and  none  that  has  been 
made  so  productive  by  irrigation.  The  Utah  and  Northern,  the 
Utah  Central,  and  the  Utah  Southern  Railroads  traverse  it 
lengthwise,  and  their  branches  spread  across  it,  so  that  if,  as 
some  persons  think  possible  from  a  recent  rise  of  the  lake,  this 
whole  ground  should  be   again  submerged  for  a  few  centuries 


264  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

and  then  become  dry,  the  people   of  a  future  age  may  wonder 
who  dropped  this  big  gridiron  in  the  basin. 

Yet  our  eastern  friends  seem  to  know  as  little  about  these 
great  railroad  enterprises  of  the  West  as  may  come  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  our  imaginary  descendants.  Their  stock  and  bonds  are 
not  for  sale  in  the  gambling  market,  but  are  owned  chiefly  by 
the  Mormons,  who  manage  their  property  economically  and 
profitably  to  themselves,  in  opening  up  this  great  agricultural  and 
mining  country. 

A  few  miles  beyond  the  little  station  of  Black  Rock,  the 
Marsh  Valley  opens  upon  the  rich  and  extensive  plains  of  Snake 
River.  Here  is  an  unlimited  range  of  pasturage,  and  for  a  hun 
dred  miles  the  road  will  run  through  what  is  to  some  extent  a 
farming  land  of  the  Indians.  When  it  is  stolen  from  them  after 
its  value  is  ascertained,  it  will  speedily  be  peopled  by  settlers. 
Almost  on  the  line  too  are  the  new  gold  mines  of  Lost  River, 
to  which  a  large  emigration  is  predicted. 

The  especial  object  of  my  visit  to  Black  Rock  was  to  find 
Mr.  Danilson,  the  Indian  agent.  While  at  Soda  Springs,  we  had 
seen  many  of  the  Indians  who  are  scattered  in  the  summer  sea- 
son through  the  region  bordering  on  their  reservation,  to  which 
they  generally  return  in  the  winter  to  live  upon  the  crumbs  from 
the  government  table. 

Now,  it  is  a  fact,  attribute  it  to  what  cause  we  may,  that  there 
is  not  the  slightest  danger  to  life  or  property  from  Indians  in 
Mormon  settlements.  Gentiles  say  that  this  safety  arises  from 
the  joint  hatred  of  Mormons  and  Indians  to  the  government. 
Mormons  say — and  I  believe  them,  for  I  am  a  witness  of  its 
truth — that  it  is  because  their  people  never  cheat  the  Indians 
and  never  refuse  them  food.  At  any  rate,  I  felt  perfectly  safe, 
even  when  mounted  on  a  good  horse  and  with  a  good  <jun — most 


THE  BANNOCK  INDIANS.  265 

desirable  of  all  property — among  the  many  Indians  we  met  miles 
away  from  the  village.  These  Bannocks,  whose  tribe  was  on 
the  war-path  at  the  north,  never  molested  us.  They  came  to  our 
door  with  game,  fish  and  skins,  for  which  we  "  swapped  "  with 
them,  if  we  had  occasion  for  such  things.  If  not,  we  gave  them 
bread,  meat  and  coffee.  We  never  locked  our  doors  against 
Indians,  but  we  slept  at  night  with  loaded  guns  by  our  bedsides, 
in  anticipation  of  possible  visits  from  white  "  road  agents." 

From  the  Bannocks  who  could  speak  English  we  heard  the 
same  universal  tale  of  woe.  How  I  wish  that  one  eloquent  old 
man  whom  we  heard  could  have  some  useless  politician's  half 
hour  on  the  floor  of  Congress  !  He  did  not  talk  from  a  rostrum 
or  a  pulpit  in  fine  periods  of  rhetoric,  but  mounted  on  a  sorry 
pony,  whose  drooping  head  seemed  to  be  bowed  down  in  sym- 
pathy with  his  master's  grief,  he  told  of  the  wrongs  of  his  people. 

"  Indian  kill  'em  two  white  men  'cause  white  men  steal  'em 
squaw.  Spose  Indian  steal  white  man  squaw  ?  White  man  no 
kill  Indian  ?  So  white  man  clean  'em  out  all  Indian!  steal  'em 
land,  steal  'em  squaw,  steal  'em  horse,  cheat  'em  Indian,  starve 
'em  Indian,  kill 'em  Indian!  All  right;  Indian  die!"  And 
suiting  the  action  to  the  word  the  old  man  rolled  off  upon  the 
ground,  folded  his  arms  across  his  breast  in  imitation  of  death 
as  he  added,  "  Heap  happy  now  !  " 

The  Bannocks  were  loud  in  their  complaints  against  the 
Indian  agent,  and  many  of  the  settlers  seemed  to  think  they  had 
cause.  They  said  that  in  winter  they  had  scanty  food  on  the 
reservation,  and  in  summer  were  driven  off  to  get  their  own  sub- 
sistence without  powder  or  shot.  It  was  intimated  that  the 
agent  drew  their  rations  in  the  mean  time  for  his  own  profit. 
When  I  came  to  call  upon  Mr.  Danilson  I  frankly  told  him  what 
was  said  of  him  by  the  Indians  and  by  the  settlers. 


266  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

"  It  is  not  the  first  time  that  I  have  heard  these  stories,"  said 
he,  "  and  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  there  is  some  truth  in  them, 
only  they  unfortunately  accuse  the  wrong  party.  It  is  Congress 
that  is  to  blame  for  making  insufficient  appropriations." 

In  a  long  conversation  with  Mr.  Danilson,  some  curious  de- 
velopments came  out  touching  the  philanthropic  policy  of  the 
government,  which  acts  like  a  mother-in-law  in  her  attempt  to  make 
people  happy  in  her  own  way.  The  religious  welfare  of  the 
Indians  is  impartially  cared  for  by  allotting  the  reservations 
among  the  different  sects. 

The  Shoshones  and  Bannocks,  of  whom  there  are  one 
thousand  of  the  former,  and  six  hundred  of  the  latter,  are  turned 
over  to  the   Methodists,  the  agent  forcibly  remarking  that  he 

"  would  be  d d  if  anybody  but  a  Methodist  should  preach  to 

them,  for  it  was  the  order."  At  the  same  time  he  observed  that 
an  Indian  had  no  idea  of  religion,  anyway,  and  government 
didn't  do  this  with  the  expectation  of  converting  them,  it  was 
only  to  keep  the  churches  from  quarrelling. 

In  a  temporal  way  it  desires  to  civilize  the  wild  Bannock,  and 
the  ingenious  plan  it  adopts  to  make  him  a  farmer,  is  this  : 
when  the  spring  opens,  every  Indian  who  will  work  on  the  land  has 
his  rations  continued — that  is,  the  ratio  of  the  rations  that  the  agent 
has  been  able  to  serve  out.  Then,  those  Indians  who  do  not  choose 
to  be  farmers,  are  turned  loose  to  hunt  upon  the  reservation,  whence 
all  the  game  has  been  killed  off  by  the  emigrant  and  cattle  trains, 
or  to  search  for  it  where  they  can.  And  this  hunting  is  to  be  done 
without  powder  or  shot !  To  sell  ammunition  to  them  is  a  penal 
offense.  This  is  simply  turning  them  over  to  the  charity  of  the 
settlers,  who  are  themselves  poor,  but  who  are  prompted  by 
policy,  as  well  as  humanity,  to  see  that  they  do  not  suffer  for 
want  of  food. 


POLICY  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT.  267 

"In  fact,"  said  Mr.  Danilson,  "the  amount  of  rations  allowed 
by  government  is  so  miserably  small,  that  most  of  the  Indians 
must  be  driven  off  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  or  all  of  them 
would  starve.  If  I  divided  equally  what  I  have,  it  would  not 
amount  in  value  to  five  cents  per  head  daily."  By  dint  of  teach- 
ing Indians  in  this  novel  way  to  become  farmers,  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  families  have  been  forced  to  cultivate  some  of 
the  bottom  lands  on  the  Snake  River  ;  but  from  all  accounts  the 
product  of  their  farms  does  not  exceed  the  government  stipend 
of  five  cents  per  clay  to  each  individual  working  upon  them. 

Upon  asking  Mr.  Danilson  what  he  thought  of  the  proposition 
to  turn  the  management  of  the  Indians  over  to  the  army,  he  re- 
plied that  while  the  Indian  agents  were  the  best  civilizers,  the 
officers  of  the  army  could  undoubtedly  maintain  better  order, 
and  might  entirely  prevent  war  and  raiding,  if  they  were  allowed 
to  feed  and  clothe  the  Indians  comfortably,  but  that  neither 
civilian  nor  soldier  could  keep  them  quiet  in  any  other  way. 

I  am  more  than  ever  convinced  by  this  interview  that  the 
civilization  and  conversion  of  savages  is  of  small  account,  even 
if  practicable,  in  comparison  with  full  stomachs  for  them,  and 
the  safety  to  white  men  that  would  result  from  placing  all  these 
tribes  under  the  absolute  control  of  the  army,  which  should  be 
sustained  in  its  duties  by  sufficient  appropriations. 


268  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

Travels  among  the  Mormons — The  Prolific  Patriarch — 
The  Legend  of  Bear  Lake — Brother  Cook  and  his 
Family — Vicarious  Baptism — A  Mormon  Court — A  Pros- 
perous Convert — Blacksmith's  Fork  Canon — Return  to 
the  Line  of  the  Union  Pacific. 

Our  equipage  was  what  my  facetious  friend  "  Sunset "  Cox 
once  called  a  similar  outfit — "  a  horse  and  a  half."  The  half  in 
this  instance  was  the  best  part  of  the  whole,  for  the  patient  mule 
was  more  enduring,  whereas  the  horse  advanced,  as  the  Dutchman 
expressed  it,  "  mit  a  yerk."  Stopping  was  his  favorite  gait, 
which  whip  and  spurs  induced  him  to  change  occasionally.  Both 
animals  delighted  in  straying.  Even  when  hoppled  at  night  they 
strayed  miles  away,  and  all  the  walking  I  required  was  obtained 
in  hunting  them  up  in  the  morning.  But  they  were  of  great  ser- 
vice for  daily  use  at  Soda  Springs,  or  rather  they  were  indis- 
pensable luxuries. 

Taking  a  farewell  glass  at  Nature's  great  soda  fountain,  the 
animals  were  packed  for  the  journey  with  valise,  saddlebags, 
fishing  rods  and  gun,  and  about  noon  we  mounted  them  and 
took  our  way  south-easterly,  for  the  Bear  Lake  region. 

We  followed  the  banks  of  the  Bear  River  for  eight  miles,  to 


TRA  VELS  AMONG  THE  MORMONS.  269 

the  most  practicable  ford,  and  wading  its  rapid  current,  crossed 
a  divide  which  brought  us  into  the  Nounan  Valley,  a  grassy 
meadow  where  the  cattle  and  sheep  of  Bishop  Merrill  were  grazing. 
After  travelling  nineteen  miles,  we  arrived  at  the  Episcopal 
mansion,  a  log  house  of  one  story,  but  a  home  where  we  were 
kindly  entertained  by  the  hospitable  prelate  and  his  wives. 
Some  twenty  children  were  running  about  the  premises,  and 
several  of  them  dined  with  us.  A  leg  of  good  mutton  was  upon 
the  table,  but  the  fresh  butter  and  rich  cream  were  the  chief 
attractions. 

Again  mounting  our  animals  we  left  this  quiet  little  valley. 
Still  following  up  the  Bear  River,  and  leaving  on  our  left  the 
towns  of  Bennington  and  Montpelier — names  that  reminded  us 
of  those  Green  Mountains  nearer  home — and  travelling  twenty 
miles  further  we  came  in  sight  of  Paris  at  sunset.  No  Arc  de 
Triomphe  shone  in  the  distance,  no  Dome  des  Invalides  or 
Column  of  Vendome,  nor  did  we  approach  the  city  through  in- 
viting suburbs.  Descending  into  a  valley  just  covered  by  the 
dark  shadow  of  the  western  mountains,  and  extending  over  it 
to  the  foot  of  the  still  sunny  range  of  hills  at  the  east,  there  lay 
before' us  a  Mormon  village  of  less  than  a  thousand  inhabitants, 
scarcely  one  of  whom  was  to  be  seen.  We  reached  the  house  of 
Mr.  Rich,  who  had  kindly  offered  us  his  hospitalities  while  at 
Soda  Springs. 

"  Is  your  father  at  home  ?"  I  asked  of  a  youngster  who  proved 
to  be  a  brother  of  our  friend. 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  guess  so,"  he  replied.  "  He  must  be  in  one  of 
his  houses." 

"  But  isn't  this  his  house  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  no  ;  this  is  my  brother  Joe's,  who  is  expecting  you. 
Father's  got  five  houses,  because  he's  got  five  wives." 


270  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

"  And  how  many  brothers  and  sisters  have  you  ? '" 

"  Well,  I  had  about  sixty  once,  but  there  ain't  more'n  forty  of 
us  alive  now." 

Mr.  Joseph  Rich  gave  us  a  cordial  welcome,  and  in  the  even- 
ing we  were  introduced  to  the  patriarch,  a  hearty-looking  man  of 
sixty-five,  who  from  his  jollity  one  would  have  supposed  a 
bachelor,  rather  than  a  five-fold  husband.  He  is  a  high  dignitary, 
the  president  of  this  district,  having  the  supervision  of  all  the 
bishops  of  the  neighborhood.  He  "gives  counsel."  This  means 
that  if  his  advice  is  followed  in  secular  affairs,  persons  to  whom 
it  is  given  are  absolved  from  responsibility  in  their  dealings  with 
their  neighbors. 

Having  obeyed  the  divine  command  to  increase  and  multiply 
to  such  an  extent,  an  extra  degree  of  holiness  is  attached  to  him, 
and  he  seems  very  fond  of  his  superiority  in  this  respect.  Lately 
there  was  a  gathering  of  the  Rich  family  at  Cape  Cod,  where  it 
is  supposed  to  have  originated.  Our  venerable  friend  was  present 
as  a  full  representative,  and  on  that  occasion  he  astonished  his 
relatives  by  the  time  he  occupied  in  reciting  the  names  of  his 
children.  Cape  Cod  and  all  "  down  east". were  forced  to  yield 
the  palm  of  productiveness  to  the  representative  from  Idaho. 

In  the  evening  he  talked  very  freely  about  family  matters,  in 
which  he  took  a  numerical  rather  than  an  ancestral  pride.  We 
were  surrounded  by  a  dozen  or  two  of  his  children  of  all  ages, 
from  babyhood  to  manhood.  One  of  them,  a  sprightly  young 
woman,  the  mother  of  children  older  than  some  of  her  brothers 
and  sisters,  told  us  that  she  had  failed  in  the  task  of  counting  her 
relations. 

"  Say,  father,"  she  asked,  "isn't  Eliza  the  oldest  of  'em  all?  " 

"  Well,"  answered  the  prolific  parent,  "  I  believe  she  does 
come  somewhere  among  the  first." 


THE  PROLIFIC  PA  TRIARCH.  2  7 1 

"  Now  look  here,  old  man,"  she  exclaimed,  "  this  kind  o'  thing 
has  been  well  enough  for  you,  but  I  don't  mean  my  husband  shall 
be  bothered  as  you  are  in  taking  count.  He  shan't  have  no- 
body's young  ones  to  count  over  but  just  mine.  Let  me  catch 
him  gettin'  sealed  in  this  world  ;  he  may  get  sealed  for  eternity 
as  much  as  he  likes,  but  nary  a  seal  shall  he  have  clown  here — 
not  if  I  know  it !  " 

In  saying  this  she  gave  expression  to  the  almost  universal 
sentiment  of  the  younger  Mormons  of  both  sexes.  It  is  now 
useless  for  the  church  to  preach  polygamy,  holding  up  Abraham, 
Isaac,  Jacob,  David  and  Solomon  as  examples.  A  woman  of  the 
present  day  is  contented  with  no  fraction  of  a  man,  be  he  prophet, 
priest,  or  king.     She  wants  an  individual  whole. 

There  was  the  usual  morning  exercise  in  hunting  for  the 
horse  and  mule.  Both  had  been  hoppled,  but  the  former  was 
attracted  by  a  passing  drove,  and  was  found  consorting  with 
them  three  miles  out  upon  the  plains  ;  and  the  latter,  who  with 
his  legs  tied  could  jump  a  four  rail  fence  as  easily  as  a  convict 
can  scale  the  walls  of  Sing  Sing,  was  discovered  helping  him- 
self to  the  oats  of  a  .neighboring  farmer. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  a  dozen  boys  were  looking  for  them 
we  were  breakfasting  with  Bishop  Budge.  Our  kind  entertainer 
was  a  Scotchman,  converted  many  years  ago  from  Presbyterian- 
ism,  as  he  said,  to  "a  saving  knowledge  of  the  truth."  His 
notion  of  the  truth  has  gradually  been  enlarged  until  he  reached 
his  present  dignity,  and  lest  there  should  be  any  mistake  in  his 
obeying  the  Scriptural  command,  that  a  person  of  his  order  shall 
be  "  the  husband  of  one  wife,"  he  has  provided  himself  with  a  re- 
lay of  two  more,  so  that  in  the  case  of  the  death  of  No.  1,  he 
may  not  be  disobedient  for  a  moment. 

"  Ah,  well,"  said  he,  "  they  think  ill  of  me  at  home  for  changing 


272  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

my  religion  ;  but  there  was  my  brother  Aleck  who  took  it  most  to 
heart.  He  was  on  his  way  last  year  to  California,  and  turned  off 
the  road  a  bit  to  see  me,  and  to  try  to  bring  me  back  into  the  fold. 
When  he  got  here  he  spent  the  whole  evening  in  lecturing  me, 
and  then  went  to  bed.  In  the  morning  I  gave  him  the  best 
breakfast  the  country  would  afford — coffee  and  rolls,  trout,  beef 
and  venison  steak,  and  such  like.  Poor  Aleck  !  he  looked  all 
over  the  table,  and  then  turned  upon  me  his  sorrowful  face, 
blurting  out,  '  Oh,  Jamie,  mon  !  Jamie,  mon  !  did  I  ever  think  it 
would  come  to  this.  I  could  hae  forgi'en  ye  a'  yer  poleegamy, 
but  hae  ye  gien  up  yer  parritch  ?  '  " 

As  the  dwellings  occupied  by  No.  i  and  No.  2  were  under- 
going repairs,  we  were  welcomed  in  his  smallest  house  by  No.  3, 
a  young  Danish  woman,  of  neat  appearance  andpleasing  address, 
who  informed  us  that  she  accepted  her  present  situation  when 
she  was  only  fifteen  years  old.  When  a  No.  1  is  married,  she 
generally  speaks  of  herself  as  a  married  woman.  Later  wives, 
although  pretending  to  be  married,  speak  of  their  change  of  state 
as  the  time  when  they  "  went  into  polygamy." 

We  had  an  excellent  breakfast,  and  Brother  Budge  gave  us  a 
very  flattering  account  of  the  spiritual  and  temporal  condition  of 
his  flock. 

"  Paris,"  he  said,  "  is  the  principal  town  of  that  part  of 
Oneida  county  called  the  Bear  Lake  district,  which  as  you  go 
south  you  will  find  to  be  the  most  fertile  of  any  part  of  Idaho 
that  you  have  seen.  We  raise  an  abundance  of  wheat,  oats, 
vegetables  of  all  kinds,  and  the  small  fruits.  Our  people  are  in- 
dustrious and  thriving.  They  have  a  rich  soil,  a  great  deal  of 
which  requires  no  irrigation,  and  produces  freely  forty  or  fifty 
bushels  to  the  acre.  The  climate  is  healthy,  and  the  scenery  of 
the  lake  and  the  mountain  canons  is  unsurpassed  for  beauty  and 


THE  PROLIFIC  PATRIARCH.  2-j$ 

grandeur.  The  people  are  virtuous,  as  a  class,  and  consequently 
happy." 

What  we  saw  afterwards,  justified  the  truth  of  his  encomium. 

The  large  Mormon  majority  of  this  district  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  when  it  was  settled,  the  territorial  line  of  Utah  was  supposed 
to  include  it,  but  the  new  survey  placed  the  inhabitants  on  the 
outside  of  that  line,  and  as  they  had  already  brought  the  land 
under  cultivation,  and  were  unmolested  by  their  fellow-citizens, 
with  whom  they  are  on  amicable  terms,  they  preferred  to  remain 
in  the  enjoyment  of  their  possessions. 

On  the  morning  of  our  departure  a  very  funny  incident 
occurred.  The  old  patriarch  had  discovered,  on  the  evening 
before,  that  one  of  his  sons  was  becoming  weak  in  the  faith  and 
intended  to  abjure  his  religion.  Moreover — and  with  a  family 
of  fifty  it  will  not  seem  strange — he  had  forgotten  to  baptize 
this  one  black  sheep.  Accordingly,  vi  et  armis,  he  dragged  the 
young  man  from  his  bed  and  put  him  under  the  cold  waters  of 
the  neighboring  creek  before  breakfast. 

At  noon  the  horse  and  mule  were  saddled,  and  bidding  adieu 
to  our  hosts,  who  as  usual  declined  all  offers  of  money,  we  passed 
on  to  St.  Charles,  the  next  settlement,  where  at  the  distance  of 
eight  miles  from  Paris  we  came  upon  the  shores  of  Bear  Lake,  at 
its  northern  extremity.  Our  road  lay  through  great  fields  of 
wheat,  in  the  harvesting  of  which  the  whole  population,  men, 
women  and  children,  were  busily  engaged.  The  farms  extended 
to  the  borders  of  the  lake,  now  spread  before  us  in  all  the  beauty  of 
pleasing  contrasts  of  the  yellow  wheat-fields  and  blue  waters, 
darkening  to  the  lofty  range  of  gray  mountains  that  extended 
along  the  eastern  shore. 

Skirting  the  western  bank  we  came  to  the  small  village  of 

Fish  Haven,  where  we  stopped  to  lunch  with  Mr.  Stock.     The 

18 


274  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

lady  of  the  house  told  us  that  she  and  her  husband  heard  the 
glad  tidings  of  salvation  at  Port  Natal,  beyond  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  and  on  embracing  the  faith  they  sold  out  all  their  posses- 
sions, and  sought  the  Lord  in  these  "  his  holy  mountains." 
Thus  the  Mormon  missionaries  penetrate  the  remotest  corners 
of  the  earth,  even  "carrying  the  war  into  Africa." 

But  they  are  not  solicitous  about  the  negroes.  They  consider 
them  to  be  the  descendants  of  Ham,  "  cursed  with  a  curse." 
They  are  rather  pro-slavery  in  their  notions,  the  negro  in  their 
estimation  being  doomed  by  the  Almighty  to  be  a  "  servant  of 
servants  "  forever.  They  admit  that  he  has  a  soul,  but  although 
he  may  have  a  place  in  heaven,  he  never  can  be  "exalted." 
He  is  sometimes  baptized,  but  is  not  admitted  to  the  priesthood, 
that  is,  he  is  not  permitted  to  "talk  in  meeting,"  a  privilege 
the  negro  is  always  ambitious  to  secure,  and  consequently 
seldom  embraces  "  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints." 

There  were  several  Mistresses  Stock,  and  each  one  had  a 
stock  of  children.  Beds,  cribs  and  cradles  constituted  the  furni- 
ture of  the  house.  We  took  lunch  under  difficulties,  and  then 
rode  five  miles  further  down  the  lake  to  Swan  Creek,  the  first 
settlement  within  the  boundaries  of  Utah  territory,  where  we  had 
'been  commended  by  Bishop  Budge  to  the  hospitalities  of  Mr., 
Mrs.  and  another  Mrs.  Cook. 

Two  or  three  rude  cabins,  a  sawmill  and  gristmill  constitute 
the  settlement  of  Swan  Creek,  and  all  these  are  the  property  of 
our  host,  Mr.  Cook.  All  around  the  borders  of  the  lake  were  his 
fields  of  wheat  and  corn,  and  the  green  meadows  where  his  cattle 
feed  extend  far  and  near.  When  this  part  of  the  country  becomes 
better  known,  tourists  will  frequent  Bear  Lake,  hotels  will  stand 
upon  its  banks,  and  steamboats  will  stir  its  waters.  But  now  only 
a  passing  stranger  visits    it.     Here  and  there    may  be  found  a 


THE  LEGEND  OF  BEAR  LAKE.  275 

hamlet  on  its  shores,  and  perhaps  the  only  navigable  craft  upon' 
it  are  the  little  skiffs,  in  one  of  which  we  paddled  out  on  its  deep 
waters  and  beheld  the  bottom,  many  fathoms  beneath,  as  clearly 
as  the  blue  sky  over  our  heads.  It  abounds  in  salmon  trout  and 
fish  of  various  other  kinds,  and  has  a  romantic  reputation. 

No  Indian  was  ever  known  to  launch  his  canoe  upon  it,  to 
bathe  in  it,  or  even  to  fish  from  its  banks.  They  believe  it  to 
be  sacred  to  the  monsters  of  its  depths,  and  dare  not  pollute  its 
waters,  or  take  from  them  a  single  fish  put  there  for  the  food  of 
the  dreaded  proprietors. 

The  legend  is  that  centuries  ago,  when  the  Sioux  and  Ban- 
nocks were  at  war,  a  chief  of  the  former  tribe  became  enamoured 
of  a  dusky  Bannock  maiden.  The  course  of  true  love,  which 
never  did  run  smooth,  led  them  over  mountains  and  canons  in 
their  escape  from  the  pursuit  of  the  hostile  tribes,  whose  mem- 
bers were  for  the  time  in  league  for  mutual  vengeance. 

At  last,  like  the  Highlander  with  Lord  Ullin's  daughter,  they 
came  to  the  shores  of  the  lake,  their  angry  relatives  close  behind. 
There  was  no  gallant  old  ferryman  willing  to  risk  his  life  for  the 
"  winsome  ladye,"  and  so  they  plunged  into  the  waves  to  become 
targets  for  arrows  and  tomahawks. 

But  suddenly  the  Great  Spirit  transformed  them  into  two 
enormous  serpents.  Rearing  their  heads  from  the  water  they 
shot  from  their  mouths  a  volley  of  beach  stones  on  their  paralyzed 
foes,  but  few  of  whom  escaped  to  hand  clown  to  succeeding 
generations  the  warning  to  beware  of  this  enchanted  lake. 

Aside  from  all  such  superstition  as  this,  there  really  is  good 
reason  to  believe  that  the  lake  is  inhabited  by  some  abnormal 
water  animals.  We  conversed  with  seven  persons,  among  them 
our  friend,  the  bishop,  who  at  different  times  had  seen  them,  and 
they  told  us  that  many  other  individuals  could  verify  their  report. 


27b  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

The  length  of  these  monsters  varies  from  thirty  to  eighty  feet, 
and  their  bodies  are  covered  with  fur  like  that  of  a  seal.  The 
head  is  described  like  that  of  an  alligator.  In  one  instance  the 
animal  came  close  to  the  shore,  and  was  entangled  in  the  rushes, 
where  he  squirmed  and  splashed,  and  made  a  horrible  noise  like 
the  roaring  of  a  bull. 

It  is  true  the  Mormons  are  a  very  credulous  people.  They 
believe  in  all  sorts  of  revelations  and  appearances,  angelic  and 
diabolical.  Some  allowance  should  therefore  be  made  for  this 
tendency  of  their  minds,  but  with  all  that  considered,  it  cannot 
be  possible  for  so  many  people  to  be  utterly  mistaken.  There 
are  unquestionably  in  Bear  Lake  some  fish  larger  than  the 
ordinary  salmon  trout.  Whatever  they  may  be,  they  did  not 
exhibit  themselves  for  our  benefit. 

We  remained  three  days  with  the  kind  people  on  whom  we 
had  been  quartered.  Mr.  Cook  was  an  elderly  man.  His  family 
consisted  of  two  wives  and  twenty  children,  ranging  from  man- 
hood to  infancy,  and  a  sister  who  had  just  left  her  husband  in 
the  east,  to  join  the  church.  I  have  not  been  slow  to  criticise 
the  bad  features  of  polygamy,  but,  with  a  disposition  to  do  the 
institution  whatever  justice  it  may  be  entitled  to,  I  readily  admit 
that  this  was  in  every  respect  a  happy  family.  The  utmost 
conjugal,  parental  and  fraternal  affection  prevailed  among  them 
all. 

The  head  of  the  establishment  was  a  sincerely  religious  man. 
His  devotions,  morning  and  evening,  and  before  every  meal, 
breathed  the  spirit  of  earnest  love  for  all  mankind,  and  of  desire 
for  their  conversion  to  what  he  believed  to  be  the  truth.  He 
had  implicit  faith  in  every  dogma  of  his  church,  and  oh  how  he 
did  wrestle  with  the  Lord  for  the  strangers  under  his  roof,  and 
how  he  did  urge  upon  us  the  duty  of  entering  the  fold ! 


VICARIOUS  BAPTISM.  277 

Like  all  Mormons,  he  believed  in  "  baptism  for  the  dead." 
He  said  he  had  been  baptized  in  one  day  two  hundred  and  forty 
times  for  his  dead  relatives  and  friends.  He  seemed  to  wish 
that  I  might  die  before  him,  in  order  that  he  might  be  baptized 
for  me  :  and  in  case  his  wish  for  my  early  death  was  not  gratified, 
and  he  should  pass  first  through  the  dark  valley,  he  enjoined  it 
upon  his  sons  to  go  into  the  water  for  me.  So  all  the  male 
members  of  the  Cook  family  are  enlisted  for  my  salvation. 
Good,  kind-hearted  old  enthusiast,  far  be  it  from  me  to  ridicule 
your  faith  ! 

Jane  and  Adeline,  the  two  wives,  were  equally  interested  in 
the  eternal  welfare  of  my  wife.  If  either  of  them  survives  her, 
whenever  her  death  is  announced,  baptism  by  proxy  will  be  per- 
formed for  her,  and  if  their  death  precedes  hers,  as,  with  all  due 
regard  for  these  excellent  ladies,  I  hope  may  be  the  case,  then 
one  of  the  girls  is  to  take  the  mother's  place  in  the  ceremony. 

The  elderly  Mrs.  Jewett  had  the  zeal  of  a  new  convert  in 
complying  with  all  the  formalities  of  Mormonism.  She  must 
now  be  "  sealed  "  to  some  other  man.  She  remarked  :  "  This 
troubles  me  more  than  any  thing  else.  I  don't  see  who  they  can 
get  for  me.  At  my  age  I  am  not  very  marketable,  and  then  I 
was  always  so  neat  and  particular.  Folks  out  here  are  most  of 
'em  dreadful  dirty.  To  be  sure  it  will  be  celestial  marriage,  and 
I  needn't  stay  with  'em  on  earth  without  I've  a  mind  to :  but  I 
wouldn't  like  dirty  folks  even  in  heaven  !  " 

Mr.  Cook  proposed  to  seal  himself  "celestially"  to  any 
unmarried  ladies  of  our  acquaintance,  and  we  gave  him  a  list  of 
several  who  have  passed  beyond  matrimonial  chances  in  this  life, 
and  who  are  probably  now,  without  their  knowledge,  the  brides  of 
Mr.  Cook  for  the  future  world.  Poor  man,  he  little  knows  what 
hard  bargains  he  has  made  ! 


278  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

I  have  no  space  to  write  about  all  his  revelations,  manifesta- 
tions, and  various  extravagances.  According  to  his  belief,  the 
garden  of  Eden  was  in  Ohio,  and  the  ark  was  built  in  Missouri. 
He  produced  the  Bible  to  prove  that  it  could  easily  have  drifted 
to  Ararat  in  seven  months.  As  this  could  not  be  denied,  he 
claimed  for  himself  the  full  force  of  his  argument. 

Such  were  some  of  the  wild  notions  of  this  curious  family  : 
and  yet  with  all  their  religious  insanity  they  attended  most  in- 
dustriously to  their  farm  and  their  mills.  Their  house  was 
scrupulously  neat,  and  their  table  loaded  with  substantial  food. 

Before  leaving  Swan  Creek  we  attended  an  ecclesiastical 
court.  It  is  the  practice  of  the  Mormons  to  settle  all  disputes 
with  each  other  by  referring  them  to  a  tribunal  of  their  own, 
rather  than  to  encourage  litigation  and  employ  lawyers.  Mr. 
Cook  had  "  jumped  "  an  adjoining  tract  of  land  which  a  brother 
Mormon  had  pre-empted  five  years  before,  but  never  occupied. 
In  strict  conformity  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States — and  this 
was  not  disputed — Cook  had  gone  upon  the  land  last  year,  put 
up  fences  and  raised  a  crop  of  wheat.  Finding  the  land  had 
now  become  valuable,  the  original  pre-emptor  came  back  and 
took  possession.     This  was  the  case  before  the  tribunal. 

The  court  was  held  in  a  log  cabin  fifteen  feet  square.  At 
one  end  was  a  chair  for  the  president,  and  on  extemporized 
benches  sat  the  council  of  twelve,  six  on  each  side.  The  plain- 
tiff, defendant  and  witnesses  were  between  the  two  rows  of 
councillors.  This  is  the  regular  form.  The  court  was  opened 
with  prayer,  and  then  the  parties  to  the  suit  each  told  his  own 
story,  producing  his  own  witnesses.  They  both  agreed  to  let  the 
question  be  settled  by  the  council,  reserving  the  right  of  appeal 
to  the  head  of  the  church  at  Salt  Lake,  but  in  no  case  to  the  law 
courts  of  the  land. 


A  PROSPEROUS  CONVERT.  2jg 

When  the  evidence  was  all  in,  and  the  arguments  had  been 
concluded,  which  occupied  two  hours,  die  president  gave  his 
decision,  subject  to  objection  from  any  of  the  council.  There 
was  no  opposition  to  it,  beyond  some  slight  modifications.  The 
verdict  was  that  the  original  pre-emptor  should  retain  the  prop- 
erty, but  that  he  should  pay  brother  Cook  for  all  the  expense  he 
had  put  upon  it. 

As  Cook  wanted  the  land  more  than  the  money,  he  took  an 
appeal.  Then  everybody  shook  hands  all  round,  and  the  court 
was  closed  with  an  invocation  of  the  divine  blessing.  The  farm- 
ers harnessed  their  teams  and  went  home  satisfied  with  the 
reflection  that,  if  they  had  done  no  good,  they  had  certainly  done 
no  harm,  and — a  consolation  that  no  lawyer  ever  feels — that  they 
had  put  nobody  to  the  expense  of  a  dollar. 

Leaving  Swan  Creek  we  rode  along  the  lake  for  seven  miles, 
under  the  shade  of  a  natural  avenue  of  cottonwood  and  willows, 
forgetting  our  curiosity  to  see  the  "  lake  monsters "  in  the 
beauties  of  water,  sky  and  mountain,  that  needed  no  legends  or 
aid  of  imagination  to  make  them  attractive.  Then  our  road  led 
us  around  the  foot  of  a  mountain  to  a  town  fitly  named  Meadow- 
ville.  Fording  a  stream  called  Duck  Creek,  fifteen  miles  from 
the  house  of  Mr.  Cook,  we  came  to  the  ranche  of  Mr.  Kerl,  a 
Mormon  of  a  different  stamp.  Whatever  religious  bigotry  he 
had,  he  kept  to  himself  ;  and  if  in  the  neighboring  houses  we 
had  not  seen  two  young  women  and  a  crowd  of  children  who 
evidently  belonged  to  him,  we  should  not  have  surmised  that  the 
family  who  entertained  us  were  other  than  ordinary  Gentiles. 
Mrs.  Kerl  is  an  Englishwoman,  who,  as  she  frankly  confessed, 
had  been  at  service  in  her  youth,  when  her  husband  was  a  game- 
keeper's boy  in  the  "New  Forest."  It  is  their  only  boast  of 
Mormonism  that  it  has  been  the  means  of  elevating;  them  from 


280  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

their  former  condition  to  the  proprietorship  of  this  valuable 
ranche.  Here  they  have  great  droves  of  cattle,  flocks  of  sheep, 
and  herds  of  horses  ranging  the  slopes  of  mountain  pastures,  and 
three  hundred  acres  of  land,  producing  full  crops  of  wheat  and 
oats.  Here  they  make  tons  of  butter  and  cheese,  and  live 
literally  on  the  "  fat  of  the  land  ; "  while,  if  there  is  any  poetry  in 
their  souls,  their  notions  must  be  enlarged  with  their  estate. 
When  Goldsmith  mourned  over  his  deserted  village  of  the  plain, 
could  his  eye  have  rested  on  a  scene  like  this,  where  man  be- 
comes his  own  master  under  Nature's  smiles,  and  fed  by  her 
teeming  abundance,  he  would  not  have  deplored  the  fate  of 
"  Sweet  Auburn  "  in  his  plaintive  verse. 

Did  the  sun  shine  brighter,  were  the  meadows  more  green, 
the  mountains  more  purple,  the  stacks  of  yellow  grain  more 
abundant,  or  was  there  not,  besides  all  these,  something  in  the 
quiet  contentment  of  the  people  around  us  that  caused  us  so 
fully  to  enjoy  the  day  spent  in  this  happy  valley  ? 

Very  opportunely  Mr.  Kerl  was  intending  on  the  next  day  to 
go  down  in  his  wagon  through  the  canons  towards  Logan,  a  dis- 
tance of  fifty  miles,  and  we  took  advantage  of  this  to  ease  our 
animals  of  their  heavy  packs  of  luggage.  After  a  morning  of 
successful  shooting  on  the  meadows  we  left  the  ranche,  in  com- 
pany with  its  owner.  Passing  the  first  divide  we  obtained  a  fare- 
well view  of  Bear  Lake,  and  after  that  our  path  wound  through 
a  labyrinth  of  mountains,  up  and  down  wild  canons,  by  the  side 
of  their  streams,  the  scenery  ever  changing  ;  green  slopes,  per- 
pendicular crags,  lovely  valleys,  succeeding  each  other  so  rapidly 
that  only  a  confused  memory  of  beauties  was  left  upon  our  minds. 

In  this  way  we  passed  over  twenty-seven  miles,  and  at  even- 
ing came  to  "  Blacksmith  Forks,"  where  the  canon  of  that  name 
begins  its  descent  to  Logan,  and  the  Ogden  Canon  branches  off 


THE  LINE  OF  THE  UNION  PACIFIC.  28 1 

to  the  left.  We  camped  on  the  banks  of  the  head-waters  of 
Logan  River.  Having  hoppled  our  saddle  beasts,  and  tied  the 
others  to  the  wagon  wheels,  we  built  a  fire  and  cooked  some 
grouse  and  ducks  shot  on  the  way,  and  then,  after  a  social  game 
of  euchre  by  the  light  of  the  camp  fire,  made  our  preparations 
for  the  night. 

Mr.  Kerl  kindly  gave  up  his  bed  by  stepping  out  of  his  wagon, 
where  we  lay  down  upon  the  hay  with  a  glorious  blue  canopy 
spangled  with  stars  over  our  heads,  and  although  the  frost  was 
so  severe  at  this  altitude  of  seven  thousand  feet  that  our  breath 
froze  upon  the  blankets,  we  passed  a  night  of  luxurious  sleep 
unknown  to  those  who  lie  upon  "  downy  beds  of  ease." 

The  morning  was  excessively  cold,  but  we  were  soon  com- 
forted by  a  good  fire  and  an  excellent  breakfast  like  our  supper 
of  the  evening  before ;  and  then,  at  sunrise,  we  saddled  and 
harnessed  our  beasts  and  resumed  our  journey. 

The  remaining  twenty-five  miles  was  a  continual  descent,  and 
an  uninterrupted  scene  of  grandeur  until,  emerging  from  the 
canon,  we  came  down  on  the  plains  of  Cache  Valley,  and  then, 
beautiful  as  were  the  meadows  and  the  harvest  of  grain,  how 
tame  every  thing  appeared  compared  with  the  remembrance  of  all 
that  we  had  left  behind !  The  atmosphere  had  lost  its  elasticity, 
and  for  the  time  we  experienced  a  depression  of  spirits  which  led 
us  to  look  back  regretfully  upon  the  mountains,  and  to  sigh  for 
a  breath  of  their  pure  air.  Unmindful  of  the  fatigue,  we  would 
fain  have  turned  and  retraced  our  steps. 

We  arrived  at  Logan  soon  after  noon  and  there  took  the 
train  for  Ogden,  after  returning  our  animals  to  their  owners.  Ap- 
preciating their  many  good  qualities  their  faults  were  freely  for- 
given, and  the  mule's  rider  thought  that  she  detected  a  tear  in  his 
eye  when  she  bade  him  an  affectionate  farewell. 


282  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

The   Union   Pacific  Railroad — The   Rocky  Mountains — 
Easy-going  Emigrants — Greeley,  on  the  road  to  Denver. 

On  leaving  California,  after  crossing  the  Sierras  Nevadas,  the 
traveller  is  carried  over  an  elevated  plateau,  as  before  described, 
until  by  a  somewhat  gradual  descent  he  comes  to  the  valley  of 
the  Great  Salt  Lake,  the  lowest  level  between  the  Sierras  and 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  From  Ogden  begins  the  ascent  of  the 
great  range  through  the  Weber  and  Echo  Canons,  amidst  the 
wildest  scenery  of  the  route. 

The  Sierras,  sooner  traversed,  may  leave  more  pleasant  memo- 
ries of  thickly  wooded  valleys  which  offset  the  ruggedness  of  their 
peaks.  These  bare  and  lonely  mountains,  with  their  sharp  out- 
lines of  adamantine  rocks,  impress  us  with  ideas  of  stern  sub- 
limity, in  which  not  a  single  thought  of  beauty  enters. 

We  rise  to  a  grade  1125  feet  higher  than  any  on  the  Central 
Pacific  Road,  and  among  innumerable  buttes  and  glacier-worn 
crags  are  carried  on  towards  the  breezy  plains  of  Laramie. 

The  Union  Pacific  Railroad  is  coming  to  be  considered  a  fre- 
quented avenue  leading  out  of  New  York.  It  is  well  known  in 
the  courts  and  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  where  it  is  annually  made 


THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS.  283 

the  object  of  attack,  and  its  present  stockholders  subjected  to 
punishment  for  the  Credit  Mobilier  transactions  and  the  crook- 
edness of  old  contractors.  It  will  be  a  happy  day  for  them  and  for 
the  public  when  all  disputes  are  finally  settled,  and  this  great 
work,  constructed  for  the  relief  of  the  country  in  its  dire  neces- 
sity, shall  have  free  scope  to  develop  its  peaceful  industries. 

Aided  by  nature,  whose  obstacles  its  first  mission  was  to  over- 
come, it  is  already  opening  vast  fields  of  mineral  wealth.  When 
the  road  was  begun,  the  presence  of  gold  and  silver  ore  on  this 
side  of  the  Pacific  slope  was  almost  unknown.  Now  its  feeders 
from  Utah,  Idaho,  Montana,  Wyoming,  Dakota  and  Colorado 
bring  thousands  of  tons  to  its  depots. 

Of  coal,  then  absolutely  undiscovered,  its  own  mines  in 
Wyoming  alone  last  year  produced  276,000  tons,  and  the  best 
iron  in  the  continent  has  been  found  abundantly  on  its  route, 
where  foundries  and  works  have  been  established.  Besides  these 
metals,  vast  deposits  of  sulphur,  soda  and  oil-bearing  rock  are 
now  being  exploited. 

Not  the  least  of  its  resources  are  the  ever  multiplying  herds 
of  cattle  and  flocks  of  sheep  that  roam  the  fertile  plains.  These 
old  homes  of  the  buffalo  and  antelope  have  been  captured 
by  them  ;  for  the  inexorable  laws  of  nature  dictate  "  the  survival 
of  the  fittest,"  in  an  invariable  line  of  progress.  Useless  ani- 
mals are  superseded  by  those  that  are  necessary  to  man,  as  use- 
less men,  Indians,  greasers  and  negroes  are  being  swept  away 
by  those  lords  of  creation  born  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race.  It  is 
a  high  title,  but  they  have  assumed  it,  though  all  of  them  do  not 
bear  the  stamp  of  nobility. 

When  Mr.  Greeley  advised  the  young  man  to  "go  west,"  a 
compliance  with  his  counsel  was  a  literal  obedience.  The  young 
man  went.     He  was  not  carried  ;  he  went,  either  on   a  solitary 


284  TIIE  ROUND  TRIP. 

march  with  gun  and  pickaxe  over  his  shoulders,  or  walked  by 
the  side  of  slow  moving  oxen  drawing  all  his  worldly  goods. 
Among  them,  and  first  of  his  articles  of  necessity,  was  his  youth- 
ful bride,  who,  leaving  the  comforts  of  her  eastern  home,  fitted 
herself  on  the  long  tramp  to  become  his  helpmate  and  not  his 
expensive  toy. 

Emigrants  of  this  style  are  not  yet  extinct.  On  the  prairies 
we  often  passed  them  taking  their  weary  road  that  had  its  ad- 
vantages in  reconciling  them  to  their  new  home.  At  one  of  the 
stations  on  the  plains  west  of  Cheyenne,  while  other  passengers 
were  at  their  meal,  we  strayed  away  to  look  at  a  temporary  house- 
keeping arrangement  not  far  from  the  train. 

The  horse  and  cow  were  grazing  at  a  little  distance  from  the 
empty  wagon,  from  which  the  top  had  been  removed  and  con- 
verted into  a  tent.  Out  of  doors  a  rosy  cheeked  young  woman 
was  preparing  the  dinner  upon  a  miniature  cooking-stove  while  the 
husband  was  engaged  in  an  employment  that  would  not  have 
suggested  itself  to  us — beating  into  flat  slabs  the  tin  cans  that  he 
had  picked  up  on  his  journey.  These,  he  said,  were  to  cover  his 
roof  when  he  built  a  house  somewhere. 

"  Somewhere  ?     And  where  is  that  ?  "  we  asked. 

"  Well  now,  mister,"  he  replied,  "  you  are  too  much  for  me 
there.  I  suppose  we  must  stop  somewhere  by  and  by,  but  the 
further  we  go,  the  less  we  want  to.  I  like  to  keep  going  this 
way.  My  wife,  she  likes  it ;  and  the  baby  in  there  seems  to  like  it 
too,  for  she  grows  like  a  weed.  We  are  none  of  us  sick  ;  we 
always  have  plenty  to  eat,  and  so  we  don't  see  the  use  of  stopping. 
But  one  of  these  days  I  suppose  we  shall  get  to  the  Pacific,  and 
then  we  shall  have  to  stop.  In  the  mean  time,  if  we  strike  a  good 
place  we  may  build  a  house  to  live  in  for  a  spell,  but  for  the  pres- 
ent we  are  well  enough  off." 


GREELEY.  285 

The  shrill  whistle  hurried  us  back  to  the  train,  whence  from 
the  windows  of  our  car  we  looked  back  with  a  feeling  almost  of 
envy  upon  the  happy  vagrants. 

That  young  man  was  not  the  one  the  Tribune  philosopher  had 
in  mind  when  he  gave  his  memorable  direction.  From  present 
appearances,  he  will  not  contribute  much  to  build  up  the  waste 
places,  although  from  a  selfish  point  of  view  he  is  happier  than 
the  pioneer,  whose  object  it  is,  first  of  all  things,  to  make  himself 
rich. 

Mr.  Greeley  was  a  man  of  ideas,  some  of  them,  as  many  people 
think,  erroneous,  but  he  was  undeniably  right  in  wishing,  for  the 
good  of  the  nation  and  of  the  individual,  to  send  the  poor  labor- 
er away  from  the  crowded  city  to  the  new  soil  of  the  great  West. 

Approaching  Denver,  after  branching  off  at  Cheyenne,  the 
road  passes  through  a  town  called  by  the  name  of  the  philosopher, 
founded  two  years  before  his  death,  and  intended  to  realize 
his  favorite  scheme  of  communistic  labor.  Had  he  lived,  he 
might  have  rejoiced  over  the  success  of  this  experiment  on  a 
small  scale,  and  had  he  lived  many  years  more  he  must  have  dis- 
covered what  almost  everybody  anticipates,  that  the  plan  would 
fail  when  carried  out  on  a  large  scale. 

Greeley  is  very  like  a  Mormon  town.  About  two  thousand- 
people  of  advanced  ideas  gathered  here  and  established  a  com- 
mon home,  tilling  the  land,  pasturing  flocks  and  herds  for  mutual 
support  and  profit.  They  have  co-operative  mills  and  stores, 
and  possibly  will  live  together,  so  long  as  their  number  is  small, 
in  happiness  and  peace.  Unlike  the  Mormons,  however,  who  in 
many  of  their  towns  have  adopted  this  system,  they  are  divided 
into  different  religious  sects,  thus  lacking  a  common  bond  of 
union  which  might  presage  a  more  assured  success. 


286  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

The  City  of  Denver — Sunday — Climate — Railroads — En- 
thusiastic McAllister — Colorado  Springs — Colorado 
City — Manitou — "Garden  of  the  Gods  "  and  Canons. 

On  the  morning  after  our  arrival  at  Denver,  we  started  on  a 
tour  of  observation,  guided  by  a  citizen  who  reckoned  himself 
among  the  "  oldest  inhabitants."  We  were  shown  the  wide 
streets  on  whose  borders  some  little  cottonwood  trees  were 
struggling  for  life  and  promising  a  future  shade  in  return  for  the 
labor  of  irrigation.  The  hotels  were  in  number  and  capacity 
sufficient  to  accommodate  the  whole  population.  There  were 
houses  in  various  gradations,  from  the  elegant  residences  of  the 
rich  to  the  wretched  dens  of  the  Italians  and  Chinese. 

The  stores — in  the  relative  proportion  of  one  to  each  dwell- 
ing— were  all  open,  for  it  was  Sunday,  and  Sunday  is  the  busy 
day  of  Denver.  It  is  the  day  when  the  miners  pour  into  the  town 
to  supply  themselves  with  provisions,  and  the  farmers  bring  in 
produce  to  exchange  for  their  wants.  The  bar  rooms,  billiard 
halls,  sample  rooms  and  saloons  were  reaping  their  richest 
harvest  of  the  week ;  all  was  life,  bustle  and  confusion.  What 
a  busy  place  it  is,  we  thought !     If  the  exuberance  of  trade  can 


SUNDAY.  287 

only  find  vent  by  encroaching  thus  upon  the  Sabbath,  what  must 
it  be  upon  weekdays  ! 

Mingling  with  the  uproar  of  trade,  the  church  bells  chimed 
in  from  all  quarters,  calling  upon  the  people  to  divide  the 
service  of  Mammon  with  God,  by  giving  him  at  least  one  hour 
of  the  day.  It  is  fair  to  the  Denverites  to  say  that  they  are 
willing  to  make  this  compromise.  They  generally  close  their 
stores,  and  some  of  them  are  even  willing  to  vacate  the  bar  rooms, 
at  n  o'clock.  After  service,  our  guide  took  us  to  view  the 
antiquities,  pointing  with  all  the  pride  of  an  Italian  cicerone  to 
a  log  cabin  built  in  the  almost  forgotten  past  of  twenty  years  ago  ; 
for  in  the  great  West  decades  and  even  single  years  are  centuries. 

The  settlement  of  Denver  was  begun  in  1859.  For  the  first  nine 
years  of  its  existence  it  was  a  mere  mining  camp,  or  rather  a 
deposit  of  stores  for  miners.  Then  it  lingered  along,  its  popu- 
lation barely  increasing  to  the  number  of  four  thousand,  until 
railroads,  the  great  pioneers  of  civilization,  brought  to  it  a  sudden 
accession  of  inhabitants  and  wealth.  Then  it  was  the  point  to 
which  the  roads  from  Kansas  and  from  Cheyenne  approached. 
Now  it  has  become  the  centre  from  which  new  railroads  diverge. 
Southerly  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  has  advanced  far  on  its  way 
to  Mexico,  forming  connections  on  the  line,  with  the  Atchison, 
Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  joining  it  from  the  east.  South-westerly 
the  Colorado  Central  has  grasped  the  oldest  mineral  regions. 
Westerly  the  Denver  and  South  Park  is  looking  steadily  towards 
Salt  Lake  City,  450  miles  to  the  west.  From  all  these,  lateral 
branches  fertilize  the  productive  capital  of  this  new  State  of  the 
Union,  as  the  streams  from  its  irrigating  canals  permeate 
its  soil. 

With  gold  and  silver  in  its  depths,  corn  and  fruits  upon  its 
surface,  tens  of  thousands  of  cattle  and  sheep  roaming  upon  its 


288  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

hills  and  plains  ;  above  all,  with  health  wafted  in  every  breath 
of  its  invigorating  air,  it  needs  no  prophet  to  predict  the  future 
of  Colorado. 

The  stormy  season  of  Denver  is  when  it  seldom  rains.  It 
would  have  been  a  pleasure  to  close  our  umbrellas  on  those 
October  days  and  to  welcome  a  deluge  upon  our  heads.  A  dust- 
storm  such  as  we  experienced  would  have  been  harder  upon 
the  animals  under  the  care  of  Noah  than  the  great  flood. 
Forty  days'  dust  like  this  would  have  effectually  killed  every 
man,  beast  and  creeping  thing  within,  as  well  as  without,  the  ark. 
It  penetrated  the  houses  so  that  the  color  of  the  carpets  was  a 
uniform  gray  ;  it  mixed  with  the  food  and  was  inhaled  by  the 
throat  and  lungs  till  the  mucous  membrane  became  like  sand- 
paper and  the  voice  between  sneezes  was  like  the  caw  of  a  raven. 
Nor  was  it  common  dust.  It  was  alkaline,  as  universal  redness 
of  the  eyes  testified  in  addition  to  all  the  other  miseries  it 
inflicted. 

The  Denver  optimists  said  that  it  was  a  special  occasion. 
They  never  knew  any  thing  like  it  before,  and  it  would  probably 
never  happen  again.  The  pessimists,  and  there  are  always  some 
of  them  everywhere,  said  "  that  was  just  the  way  of  it  all  the 
year  round." 

One  should  remain  here  a  year  in  order  to  give  a  candid 
weather  report.  As  we  had  not  that  time  to  spare,  we  are 
obliged  to  rely  upon  the  mean  of  the  metereological  reports 
and  statements  of  the  people.  From  these  it  appears  that  it  is 
sometimes  very  hot  in  midsummer,  the  mercury  attaining  oc- 
casionally ioo  degrees  in  the  shade,  and  it  is  sometimes  very 
cold  in  winter,  the  glass  showing  30  degrees  below  zero.  But  as 
these  extremes  are  seldom  reached,  summer  may  be  rated  at  75 
and  winter  at  40  degrees. 


RAILROADS.  289 

Rain  falls  freely  at  the  opening  and  the  close  of  summer,  but 
seldom,  almost  never,  from  October  to  May,  although  snow  is  not 
infrequent.  This  condition  of  things  will  suit  those  who  desire 
a  "  dry  climate."  But  all  the  advantage  derived  from  this  dry- 
ness would  seem  to  be  counterbalanced  by  the  dust  storms. 

Despite  this  almost  intolerable  nuisance,  thousands  of  invalids 
make  Denver  a  winter  resort.  Over  five  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea  level,  the  air  is  bracing  and  pure,  dust  always  excepted, 
and  this  requisite  for  people  with  lung  diseases,  combined  with 
the  comforts  of  civilization  afforded  by  hotels,  stores  and  society, 
induce  those  who  place,  as  we  think,  too  much  dependence  upon 
such  home  luxuries,  to  settle  themselves  here  to  live  or  die. 

We  left  Denver  one  morning  for  the  south,  on  the  Denver 
and  Rio  Grande  Railroad,  a  cheaply  constructed  "  narrow  gauge," 
but  a  profitable  investment  for  the  present,  and  of  well  founded 
expectations  for  the  future.  The  grade  is  of  easy  ascent  for  fifty- 
two  miles  to  the  "divide,"  along  the  banks  of  the  South  Platte, 
overlooking  a  valley  on  the  right  made  fertile  by  canals  which 
everywhere  draw  water  from  higher  levels  for  irrigation.  On  the 
left  was  a  wide  stretch  of  pasture  land,  unbroken  by  forest  or  hill 
as  far  as  the  eastern  horizon.  In  the  valley  the  settlers  grow 
their  corn  and  grass,  and  on  these  boundless  uplands  they 
pasture  their  cattle  which  divide  the  grass  with  herds  of  antelope. 
These  were  so  abundant  and  unsuspicious  of  evil  intent  that 
hundreds  of  them  came  down  almost  within  pistol  shot  from  the 
train. 

At  the  "  divide  "  there  is  a  pretty  lake  of  two  or  three  acres, 
supplied  by  living  springs  in  its  centre.  It  has  two  outlets,  one 
at  its  northern  and  the  other  at  its  southern  border.  The  former 
meanders  clown  into  the  Platte,  the  latter  into  the  Arkansas,  and 
after  travelling  thousands  of  miles  apart  in  far  different  directions 

l9 


290  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

meet  again  in  the  Mississippi,  and  journey  in  each  other's  embrace 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

Passing  numerous  hamlets  and  ranches  we  arrived  soon  after 
noon  at  Colorado  Springs,  seventy-five  miles  south  of  Denver. 
This  misnomer,  for  it  has  no  springs,  is  a  tastefully  laid  out  settle- 
ment of  between  three  or  four  thousand  inhabitants,  with  good 
hotels,  numerous  churches,  shops,  banks,  a  high  school,  an 
incipient  university,  a  deaf  and  dumb  asylum,  and  all  the  con- 
comitants of  an  advanced  civilization.  As  a  place  of  residence 
it  is  every  way  superior  to  Denver,  and  for  invalids  has  incom- 
parable advantages.  Though  5986  feet  above  the  sea  level,  the 
climate  is  far  more  equable,  and  its  neighborhood  to  the  springs 
from  which  it  takes  its  name  gives  it  a  sanitary  pre-eminence. 
It  is  the  centre  of  trade  for  the  large  agricultural  districts,  and 
derives  much  of  its  prosperity  from  the  mines,  which  it  supplies 
with  merchandise  and  provisions  paid  for  in  gold  and  silver. 

The  first  attempt  at  mining  was  made  in  1858,  by  a  few 
straggling  bands  from  the  east  and  west,  who  had  heard  of  the 
marvellous  richness  of  the  region  about  Pike's  Peak.  That 
fever  soon  abated,  but  new  discoveries  drew  greater  multitudes  ; 
and  when  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railroad  was  completed  ten  years 
later,  mining  was  a  regular  and  increasing  industry.  Until  lately 
the  mines  on  the  Colorado  Central  Railroad  have  furnished 
most  of  the  supply,  as  that  part  of  the  territory  was  settled  at  an 
earlier  date,  and  was  easily  accessible  from  Denver.  For  the 
same  reason,  stock  raising  and  farming  have  made  more  advance 
in  this  region.  Yet  this  is  but  a  small  portion  of  the  106,000 
square  miles  comprising  the  State,  which  until  the  last  twelve 
years  was  absolutely  unexplored. 

In  1873  some  adventurous  miners  penetrated  beyond  the 
"snowy  range"  that  divides  the   sources  of  the  waters  running 


ENTHUSIASTIC  MCALLISTER.  291 

into  the  Pacific  and  the  Atlantic,  returning  with  almost  incredible 
stories  of  the  wealth  of  those  mountains.  This  produced  as  wild 
an  excitement  as  lately  prevailed  about  the  Black  Hills  of 
Dakota,  and  it  was  complicated  with  similar  difficulties.  The 
western  part  of  Colorado  had  been  kept  as  a  reservation  for  the 
Ute  Indians,  and  it  was  much  more  valuable  to  them  for  agricul- 
tural purposes  than  the  bleak  mountains  of  the  Sioux  could 
possibly  be  to  them.  Fortunately  the  Utes  were  more  tractable, 
and  they  wisely  accepted  from  the  government  a  fair  price  for  the 
right  of  miners  to  occupy  that  part  of  the  reservation  suitable  for 
mining,  while  the  Indians  still  enjoy  all  that  is  of  use  to  them 
for  cultivation. 

This  new  mining  region  is  the  famous  San  Juan  country, 
which  is  expected  to  eclipse  all  previous  discoveries.  It  is  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  miles  long  from  north  to  south,  and  one 
hundred  miles  wide,  lying  chiefly  in  Lake  and  La  Plata  counties. 
Major  McAllister,  a  prominent  citizen  of  Colorado  Springs,  to 
whom  I  am  indebted  for  much  valuable  information,  has  investi- 
gated the  facts  connected  with  San  Juan,  so  far  as  they  have  been 
reported,  and  is  very  enthusiastic  in  his  belief  of  their  just  foun- 
dation. 

"  Gold  and  silver,  sir  !  "  he  exclaimed,  "  there  are  mountains, 
yes,  solid  mountains  of  it ;  you  absolutely  stumble  over  rocks  of 
solid  silver.  No  other  mineral  country  approaches  it  in  value  ! 
To  my  certain  knowledge  there  is  enough  of  the  precious  metal 
in  sight  to  pay  the  national  debts  of  the  whole  world.  You  do 
not  dig  for  it  as  elsewhere.  It  is  all  over  the  surface  in  every 
direction,  in  ridges  of  rock  a  hundred  feet  wide  and  many 
miles  in  length.  I  have  seen  a  specimen  weighing  more  pounds 
than  I  could  lift,  knocked  off  from  one  of  these  surface  rocks  !  " 

With  proper  allowance,  the  general  idea  obtained  from  Major 


2 92  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

McAllister  was  that  the  whole  of  that  country  is  traversed  in 
every  direction  by  seams  of  silver  ore,  in  number  practically 
unlimited,  in  width  from  two  feet  to  three  hundred,  and  in  rich- 
ness from  fifty  dollars  to  five  thousand  dollars  to  the  ton. 

We  took  the  stage  for  Manitou,  the  real  fountain  of  the 
mineral  waters  of  Colorado,  distant  six  miles  from  these  nominal 
"  springs."  Half  way,  we  passed  through  the  old  city  of  Colo- 
rado, built  nineteen  years  ago  for  the  capital  of  the  territory. 
But  misfortune  or  mismanagement  followed  it  from  its  birth. 
The  capital  was  removed  by  political  adroitness  to  Denver, 
and  when  the  railroad  was  contemplated  the  new  colony  at  the 
"  Springs  "  offered  superior  inducements  for  changing  its  line 
from  a  direct  course.  The  city  of  Colorado  was  built  on  the  piles 
of  false  expectations,  and  is  now  crumbling  into  the  dust  of 
oblivion.  Large  hotels  were  erected  for  guests,  who  never 
occupied  their  rooms,  stores  were  built  for  goods  they  never 
received,  banks  for  the  deposit  of  money  never  entrusted  to  their 
vaults,  and  churches  for  swallows  only  to  nestle  under  their  eaves. 
It  wears  the  melancholy  air  of  Pisa  without  its  magnificence. 

Hidden  under  a  lofty  range  of  mountains,  looking  majestically 
down  upon  it  from  the  west,  with  the  towering  summit  of  Pike's 
Peak  standing  sentry  over  the  lesser  giants  of  the  air,  is  the  little 
villageof  Manitou,  the  real  Colorado  Springs.  It  has  been  called 
the  Chamounix  of  America,  but  Chamounix  might  be  proud  to  be 
styled  the  Manitou  of  Switzerland. 

Here  is  a  land  of  lights  and  shadows.  The  morning  sun 
streams  through  the  valley  by  which  we  approach,  and  warms  it 
at  noon  with  its  kindly  but  not  overpowering  heat,  which  the 
freshness  of  the  air  always  tempers  ;  and  the  evening  sun  setting 
behind  these  overtopping  cliffs,  projects  their  shadows  upon  the 
brighter  scenes  with  a  softness  and  beauty  indescribable. 


MANITOU.  293 

It  were  far  better  if  those  who  come  here  to  regain  their 
health  were  compelled  to  live  out  of  doors  or  in  tents,  but  the 
more  than  comfortable  hotels  offer  inducements  not  to  be  resisted. 
Three  of  these  are  of  the  first  class,  equalling  the  great  Saratoga 
caravanseries  in  luxury,  while  second-class  hotels  and  boarding- 
houses  are  open  for  people  of  moderate  means. 

The  springs  have  already  acquired  a  world-wide  reputation. 
They  are  not  unlike  the  fountains  of  Vichy  or  Kissingen  ;  the 
waters  cool  and  sparkling  with  gas,  holding  in  solution  a  strong 
body  of  soda  and  iron.  Dr.  Solly,  an  English  physician  of  high 
repute,  has  recently  published  a  pamphlet  analysis  of  the  waters. 
Many  of  his  countrymen  have  settled  in  Colorado,  who  have 
come  here  to  invest  their  capital  in  loans,  which  they  can  readily 
do  at  a  high  rate  of  interest,  securing  a  far  better  income  than 
they  can  get  from  their  three  per  cent,  consols  at  home.  They 
are  captivated  with  a  genuine  country  life,  which  they  can  enjoy 
only  on  a  small  scale  in  their  little  island.  Here  they  establish 
themselves  on  ranches,  roaming  wherever  they  please  the  vast 
plains  abounding  with  game,  and  occasionally  looking  after  their 
investments  which  yearly  roll  up  into  fortunes,  while  in  the  mean 
time  they  live  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  healthy  and  pleasurable 
existence.  Some  of  them  are  the  owners  of  neat  cottages  in  and 
near  Manitou,  tastefully  built  and  surrounded  by  green  lawns, 
enclosed  with  rustic  fences. 

Nothing  is  more  pleasing  to  an  Englishman  than  to  imagine 
himself  "  lord  of  the  manor."  Everywhere  among  the  mountains 
there  are  natural  parks,  far  surpassing  in  beauty  and  magnificence 
any  that  belong  to  the  British  nobility  and  gentry  in  their  own 
kingdom. 

Here  the  Englishman  of  moderate  means  at  once  becomes  an 
aristocrat.     He  builds  for  himself   a  log  cabin,  set  with  taste 


294  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

and  an  eye  to  the  picturesque,  on  some  sheltered  spot  on  one  of 
the  vast  domains  "  taken  up  "  by  him  without  cost.  Here  he 
establishes  himself  as  lord  of  all  he  surveys  ;  buys  cattle  and 
sheep,  and  commences  a  business  in  which  a  "gentleman"  can 
engage  without  a  feeling  of  self-abasement,  getting  out  of  his 
employment,  pleasure  and  a  profit  to  be  added  to  his  accruing 
interest.  He  gradually  becomes  Americanized  by  adding  man- 
hood to  his  gentility,  and  in  course  of  time  proves  a  valuable 
citizen  of  the  great  republic.  If  he  can  gather  a  little  settlement 
about  him  and  become  the  patron  of  a  tiny  Episcopal  church, 
with  a  rector  who  will  dine  with  him  on  Sundays,  he  is  supremely 
happy,  comparing  himself  to  the  proudest  duke  or  prince  of  his 
native  land  ;  for  with  his  broad  acres,  his  horses,  his  dogs,  gun 
and  parson,  what  can  an  Englishman  ask  more ! 

This  settlement  of  Manitou  was  founded  under  the  auspices 
of  the  "  Colorado  Springs  Improvement  Co."  They  acquired 
possession  of  the  whole  valley  by  taking  up,  pre-emption  and 
purchase  of  claims,  at  little  or  no  cost.  They  have  laid  out  roads 
and  shady  walks,  and  in  other  respects  adorned  what  nature  had 
already  beautified.  They  either  own  shares  in  the  hotels  or  have 
sold  the  land  on  which  to  build  them.  Thus  they  have  made  a 
profitable  investment  for  themselves,  and  have  become  entitled 
to  the  gratitude  of  the  ever  increasing  crowd  of  visitors. 

About  five  hundred  strangers,  not  only  from  other  points  in 
the  State,  but  from  all  directions,  settle  here  during  the  season. 
The  fame  of  the  springs  has  gone  out  through  all  the  world.  In 
our  estimation  they  rank  next  to  the  soda  springs  of  Idaho.  In 
four  days  they  can  be  reached  from  Boston,  New  York,  Philadel- 
phia or  Washington,  a  less  time  than  was  formerly  occupied  in 
travelling  to  Saratoga  from  either  of  these  cities  ;  and  when 
Manitou  is  once  reached,  the  object  desired  by  invalids  and  true 


MANITOU.  295 

pleasure  seekers  is  attained.  Even  Europeans,  having  heard  its 
fame,  are  willing  to  tempt  the  dangers  of  the  seas,  and  instead  of 
resorting  to  the  sleepy  spas  of  Germany,  come  to  Colorado  to 
view  its  glorious  scenery,  to  breathe  its  life-giving  atmosphere, 
and  to  drink  its  health-bestowing  waters. 

After  having  tried  all  the  resources  of  the  pharmacopia,  the 
nostrums  of  quacks,  the  reputed  virtue  of  Bourbon  whiskey,  the 
climate,  of  Florida  and  Nassau,  and  experiencing  relief  from  none 
of  these  expedients,  attenuated  consumptives  come  to  Colorado. 
Alas,  they  too  often  come  to  die.  For  it  is  certain  that  in  the 
last  stages  of  the  disease  the  stimulating  temperature  of  this 
region  almost  invariably  proves  fatal.  The  true  physician  is  he 
who  unselfishly  counsels  the  afflicted,  in  the  first  stages  of  the 
disease,  to  abandon  drugs,  business,  and  home,  and  fly  at  once 
to  the  high  plains  and  mountains  of  the  west.  The  wisest  invalids 
are  those  who  come  here  with  something  to  do  as  well  as  to  be 
and  to  suffer.  Occupation  distracts  the  mind  from  self,  and  offers 
the  best  prospects  of  relief.  The  man  with  consumptive  ten- 
dencies should  sell  out  his  possessions  in  the  east  and  remove  for 
life  to  Colorado.  Here  let  him  establish  himself  in  business,  and 
the  best  business  he  can  find  will  be  on  the  open  plains  or  among 
the  mountains,  where  he  must  daily  ride  to  look  after  his  cattle 
and  sheep. 

No  one  has  described  this  region  with  more  enthusiasm 
than  Mrs.  Lippincott  (Grace  Greenwood).  She  has  done  for  the 
beauties  what  Major  Powell  has  done  for  the  sublimities,  and  is 
credible  while  he  is  almost  incredible.  I  mean  that  while  allow- 
ing for  certain  female  poetic  tendencies  of  embellishment,  with  a 
pencil  dipped  in  couleur  derose,  Grace  is  to  be  generally  believed, 
as  she  would  scarcely  draw  the  long  bow,  when  others  are  so  con- 
stantly hunting  over  the  same  ground.     On  the  contrary,  the  gal- 


296  THE  ROUND   TRIP. 

lant  major  has  told  such  fearful  stories  of  hairbreadth  escapes, 
that  no  one,  at  least  until  his  Munchausenism  is  forgotten,  will 
be  likely  to  follow  in  his  tracks.  Mrs.  Lippincott  has  proved  her 
sincerity  by  building  for  herself  a  "love  of  a  cottage,"  shaded  by 
cottonwoods,  entwined  with  clematis,  on  the  banks  of  Fountain 
Creek,  the  rapid  little  stream  whose  ceaseless  music  is  her  daily 
and  nightly  serenade. 

Two  miles  below  the  town,  the  "  Garden  of  the  Gods  "  is  ap- 
proached from  a  turn  of  the  road  leading  over  a  rough  path  to 
the  "  Gates  of  Paradise,"  which  form  high  battlements  at  the 
entrance.  Why  this  area  of  curious  sandstone  formation  should 
have  received  its  title  is  not  apparent.  The  name  is  calculated 
to  raise  different  expectations  from  those  eventually  realized. 
There  are  hundreds  of  acres  of  hard  red  soil,  with  here  and  there 
patches  of  wild  grass,  disappointing  our  anticipations  of  shaded 
walks  and  beds  of  flowers.  But  the  tall  fantastic  columns,  turned 
by  the  lathe  of  glaciers  thousands  of  years  ago,  are  impressive 
monuments  of  the  unknown  past.  These  tower  above  our  heads 
hundreds  of  feet  and  are  of  endless  variety,  of  grotesque  shape 
and  outline. 

The  canons  in  the  neighborhood  of  Manitou,  particularly  that 
of  Cheyenne,  are  grand  and  beautiful.  An  unending  variety  of 
walks  and  rides  lead  upward  to  the  mountain  peaks.  All 
around  Manitou  within  an  afternoon's  ride  are  scenes  like  these 
approached  by  gallops  over  the  "  Mesa"  or  high  plains,  where 
the  fresh  air  and  distant  views  add  delight  to  the  continual  sur- 
prises of  the  road. 


ASCENT  OF  PIKE'S  PEAK. 


297 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Ascent  of  Pike's  Peak — The  Hermit  of  the  Mountain — 
The  Signal  Station — A  Hunting  Expedition — On  the 
Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Railroad. 

There  are  two  ways  of  making  the  ascent  of  Pike's  Peak 
from  Manitou.  One  is  by  following  an  ill-defined  bridle  path  over 
a  very  rough  country  to  the  "  timber  line,"  where  vegetation 
ceases,  and  then  scrambling  up  an  almost  perpendicular  slope  of 
about  eighteen  hundred  feet  to  the  summit.  Although  the  rocks 
are  broken  and  slippery  the  enterprise  would  be  a  matter  of  small 
account,  if  the  start  were  to  be  made  at  this  point  from  a  sea 
level.  But  it  must  be  considered  that  the  end  of  the  "  timber 
line"  is  already  between  twelve  and  thirteen  thousand  feet  high, 
and  every  step  is  more  fatiguing  than  a  hundred  on  the  plains. 

The  longer  but  more  easy  method  is  by  the  government  trail, 
following  the  signal  telegraph  wire.  Nor  is  the  length  to  be 
regretted,  for  that  route  is  vastly  more  picturesque  than  the  short 
and  painful  one. 

The  ladies,  for  once,  were  willing  to  allow  men  to  precede 
them,  but  they  accompanied  us  about  half  the  distance  through 
the   prettiest   part  of   the  scenery.     Leaving  the  hotel  at  early 


298  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

morning  we  rode  rapidly  in  the  cool  air  over  the  Mesa  of  six 
miles,  between  Manitou  and  the  mouth  of  Bear  Creek  Cafion. 
Here  the  wagon  track  comes  to  an  end  and  a  tortuous  trail  be- 
gins, crossing  and  re-crossing  the  stream  continually,  over  rocks 
and  through  dense  underbrush,  beneath  overhanging  cliffs  and 
through  forests  of  cedar  and  pine. 

The  roar  of  tumbling  cascades  subsides  into  the  rippling  of 
comparative  levels,  and  alternates  with  noisy  uproar  like  the 
varying  melody  of  the  organ  in  its  dulcet  tones  and  deep  diapason. 
We  wound  along  for  miles  until  we  came  to  a  zig-zag  path  cut 
in  the  sides  of  a  high  mountain  descending  to  meet  its  opposite 
neighbor  abruptly  in  the  stream. 

To  those  of  us  who  first  arrived  at  the  dizzy  height  it  was  a 
curious  sight  to  behold  the  long  straggling  line  of  our  companions, 
creeping  up  the  winding  trail,  clinging  like  flies  to  the  sides  of  a 
wall.  A  light  snow  had  fallen  the  night  before,  feathering  the 
pines  and  frosting  the  rocks,  adding  greatly  to  the  picture,  but 
somewhat  endangering  the  foothold  of  our  animals  in  places 
where  the  road  was  but  three  feet  wide,  and  they  might  fall  by  a 
misstep  a  thousand  feet.  It  was  better  not  to  touch  the  reins, 
for  to  the  unaccustomed  it  was  a  risk  even  to  look  down.  Leaving 
the  beasts  to  their  instincts,  Excelsior   was  now  the  watch-word. 

The  danger  past,  a  lovely  scene  opened  before  us.  As  the 
Hudson  spreads  above  the  Palisades  into  the  Tappan  Zee,  and 
contracts  again  towards  the  Catskills,  so  here  the  pass  had 
scooped  a  plain  out  of  the  surrounding  hills,  and  left  a  natural 
park  for  miles  of  comparative  level.  Such  spots  as  these  are 
often  selected  for  cattle  and  sheep  ranches. 

But  the  owner  of  the  park  had  squatted  here,  pre-empted  and 
purchased  the  whole  of  it  for  a  different  purpose.  His  only 
desire  was  for  a  "  lodge  in  some  vast  wilderness,"  where  he  might 


THE  HERMIT  OF  THE  MOUNTAIN.  259 

seclude  himself  from  the  world  and  never  see  any  more  of  his 
numerous  relations,  whose  names  are  Jones. 

By  actual  measurement  the  lodge  of  Mr.  Jones  is  10,080  feet 
in  the  air.  He  has  perched  himself  there  for  summer  and  winter, 
dwelling  alone  in  a  neat  log  cabin  with  windows  of  the  largest 
plate  glass,  from  which  he  can  look  boldly  out  upon  the  world 
while  the  world  cannot  look  in  upon  him.  Evidently  Mr.  Jones 
is  a  peculiar  man.  We  were  sorry  that  he  was  not  at  home,  but 
were  glad  that,  in  accordance  with  the  universal  practice  of  ran- 
cheros,  he  had  no  lock  upon  his  door,  for  by  this  time,  although 
the  air  was  clear  and  the  sun  bright,  the  ample  fire-place  of  his 
mansion  offered  inducements  not  to  be  resisted.  We  made  our- 
selves at  home,  kindling  a  roaring  fire  from  the  abundance  of 
cedar  logs  at  hand,  giving  out  an  odor  like  a  hecatomb  of  lead- 
pencils.  In  the  silent  blessings  which  it  is  hoped  our  grateful 
hearts  bestowed  upon  our  luncheon,  we  did  not  fail  to  remember 
the  hermit,  who  in  the  attempt  to  hide  himself  from  his  fellow- 
creatures  had  made  a  few  of  them  so  happy. 

We  were  ten  miles  on  our  way,  one  half  the  distance  to  the 
Peak,  and  now  sending  back  the  ladies  with  an  escort,  three  of  us 
continued  our  upward  journey.  At  the  farther  end  of  the 
park,  the  mountains  drew  together  and  enclosed  us  in  their  grasp 
until,  as  we  emerged  from  the  dense  shrubbery,  they  opened 
once  more  and  exposed  to  view  on  either  side  and  beyond  a 
scene  of  utter  desolation. 

Many  years  ago,  ere  the  foot  of  the  explorer  had  crossed  the 
wilderness,  a  wide  spread  conflagration  had  raged.  The  Indian 
camp  fires  or  the  lightnings  of  heaven  might  have  kindled  it, 
but  it  was  a  melancholy  sight,  whatever  may  have  been  the  cause. 
Tens  of  thousands  of  acres  of  a  once  living  forest  were  reduced 
to  an  area  of  blackened  stumps,  and  the  fallen  timber  lay  thickly 


300  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  Through  five  miles  of  this 
wretched  field  of  desolation,  we  ascended  to  the  Lake  House,  a 
log  cabin  erected  for  the  convenience  of  tourists  and  the  supply 
of  the  Government  corps  stationed  at  the  Peak.  A  clear,  trans- 
parent basin  of  water  of  twelve  acres  is  here  a  perpetual  spring 
from  which  the  streams  flow  down  into  the  plains.  We  were 
told  that  the  water  is  so  cold  that  even  trout  cannot  live  within 
it,  but  as  that  useful  experiment  had  never  been  tried,  we 
scarcely  credited  the  information.  If  the  keeper  of  the  shanty 
had  been  sufficiently  enterprising  to  stock  the  lake  with  fish,  he 
could  with  much  less  cost  to  himself  have  provided  us  with 
something  better  than  fried  ham,  for  which  we  angled  in  a  sea  of 
grease. 

Here  our  ponies,  who  are  as  accustomed  to  the  route  as  camels 
to  the  desert,  exercised  the  same  forethought.  They  knew  that 
they  would  get  no  more  oats  or  water  until  the  next  day,  and  ac- 
cordingly ate  and  drank  their  fill.  As  we  started  onward  we 
passed  through  a  green  timber  line  not  reached  by  the  great  fire, 
encircling  the  summit  like  a  garland.  While  crossing  this  belt  a 
covey  of  mountain  grouse  whirred  overhead,  giving  each  of  us  a 
successful  shot.  Tying  the  game  to  our  saddles  we  were  happy 
in  having  secured  a  breakfast  for  the  morning. 

Then  we  came  to  the  limit  of  the  "  timber-line,"  and  by  a 
scarcely  perceptible  trail  wound  our  way  among  huge  rocks  for 
the  rest  of  the  journey.  Colder  grew  the  air  as  the  day  drew  to 
a  close,  and  we  urged  our  tired  beasts  along  that  we  might  reach 
the  Peak  before  darkness  should  come  upon  us.  Our  arrival 
could  not  have  been  at  a  more  favorable  moment,  for  as  we 
stood  upon  the  summit,  the  last  rays  of  the  sun  were  streaming 
upward  from  the  Utah  mountains,  more  than  a  hundred  miles 
away  in  the  west,  gilding  their  clearly  outlined  summits,  and  re- 


THE  SIGNAL  STATION.  301 

fleeting  changing  colors  from  their  snowy  ranges  to  the  skies. 
Then  evening  drew  its  gray  shades  over  the  vast  panorama,  and 
we  stood  alone  upon  the  mountain  with  a  world  below  us  sleep- 
ing in  the  silent  night. 

We  were  cordially  welcomed  at  their  little  stone  shanty  by 
Lieut.  Brown  and  his  comrade  of  the  U.  S.  Signal  Corps.  They 
warned  us  not  to  approach  the  stove  hastily,  in  coming  in  from 
a  temperature  of  eight  degrees  below  the  freezing  point,  as 
others  who  had  neglected  this  precaution  had  been  attacked  by 
apoplexy,  endangering  their  lives. 

Our  first  business  was  to  carry  some  faggots  to  the  brow  of 
the  peak  overhanging  the  settlement  of  Manitou,  and  to  kindle 
a  bonfire  by  which  our  friends,  10,000  feet  below,  were  assured 
of  our  safe  arrival  ;  and  then  we  gradually  accustomed  ourselves 
to  the  heat  within  doors.  The  peak  is  14,216  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  ocean,  and  Lieut.  Brown  said  that  next  year  it  would 
be  seventy  feet  higher  by  the  new  measurement  which,  having 
already  elevated  the  plains,  will  push  the  mountain  still  further 
up.     It  was  high  enough  for  us  without  this  complement. 

We  experienced  some  peculiar  sensations  difficult  to  relate 
or  even  to  remember.  A  little  walk,  if  walk  it  could  be  called, 
where  we  stumbled  over  disjointed  fragments  of  rocks,  shortened 
our  breath  almost  to  suffocation,  and  when  at  night  we  endeav- 
ored to  sleep,  although  we  were  told  that  the  attempt  would  be 
useless  on  the  first  experiment,  the  hour  of  semi-wakeful  dozing 
was  as  unpleasant  as  can  be  imagined. 

Queer  fancies  took  possession  of  our  brains.  Every  thing, 
including  ourselves,  seemed  to  be  afloat  in  the  air.  New  York 
and  Boston  rose  up  and  danced  about  in  an  altitude  of  immeas- 
urable leagues,  with  sun,  moon  and  stars  all  round  them.  When 
we  gasped  for  air,  as  we  were  often  obliged  to  do,  our  lungs  and 


302  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

chests  seemed  like  pliable  India-rubber  bellows,  expanding  to 
the  size  of  the  body  of  an  elephant. 

The  officers  stationed  here  at  first  experienced  similar  incon- 
veniences and  hallucinations,  but  had  gradually  become  accus- 
tomed to  the  novelty  and  necessities  of  their  condition.  For- 
tunately their  time  is  much  occupied  in  noting  and  recording 
observations,  and  telegraphing  them  to  Washington  ;  otherwise 
existence  would  be  intolerable. 

Here  might  be  a  favorable  place  for  the  cure  of  intemper- 
ance, for  the  smallest  draught  of  alcoholic  liquor  produces  nau- 
sea at  once,  and  gives  a  forcible  hint  in  favor  of  total  abstinence. 

The  exact  latitude  of  the  Peak  is  38  degrees  48  minutes  north, 
and  longitude  104  degrees  59  minutes  west  of  Greenwich,  as 
determined  by  Lieut.  Brown.  His  scientific  instruments  for  as- 
certaining the  velocity  of  the  wind,  humidity  of  the  air,  rain-fail, 
cold  and  heat,  and  other  matters  considered  worthy  of  daily 
reports,  were  shown  and  explained,  and  we  listened  to  an  exceed- 
ingly interesting  lecture,  illustrated  by  charts  and  diagrams,  ex- 
planatory of  the  theory  of  storms  and  probabilities,  a  synopsis  of 
which  is  read  in  the  daily  papers  by  thousands  who  never  give  a 
thought  to  the  wonderful  agencies  of  science  by  which  they  are 
evolved.  This  service  was  commenced  in  1868.  Then  "  Old 
Probabilities  "  was  in  his  infancy,  and  for  lack  of  a  thorough 
education  committed  many  blunders.  Possibilities  would  have 
been  a  better  title  for  him,  but  now  probabilities  amount  almost 
to  certainties,  and  soon  will  become  absolute  truths.  Every  vil- 
lage newspaper  chronicles  a  prophecy  of  invaluable  worth  to  the 
farmer,  and  to  all  the  millions  who  daily  look  to  these  records  for 
calculations  of  business  or  pleasure,  and  what  a  debt  of  gratitude 
the  seamen  on  our  coasts  and  lakes  owe  to  the  storm  signals  of 
this  faithful  monitor! 


THE  SIGNAL  STATION.  303 

The  highest  temperature  on  the  mountains  last  year  was 
reached  in  June,  when  the  mercury  stood  at  57  degrees  above, 
and  the  lowest  was  in  February,  when  it  marked  37  degrees  below 
zero.  Cold,  however,  depends  more  upon  the  wind  than  upon 
the  thermometer.  Late  in  the  evening  of  our  visit  the  glass 
stood  at  twenty-two  degrees  ;  but  as  the  air  was  calm  we  were 
not  uncomfortable  out  of  doors  without  overcoats,  although 
when  the  wind  is  violent  the  piercing  blast  is  unendurable. 

Snow  is  scarcely  a  respecter  of  seasons,  for  on  July  fourth  it 
fell  to  the  depth  of  fifteen  inches,  whereas  in  the  winter  it  is  all 
blown  away,  excepting  the  provision  caught  among  the  rocks, 
which  serves  for  the  only  supply  of  water  all  the  year  round  to 
the  hardy  inhabitants  of  the  hut.  The  velocity  of  the  wind  is 
occasionally  one  hundred  miles  an  hour,  and  at  such  times  no 
one  would  envy  the  signal  corps  the  scanty  pay  they  receive  for 
the  invaluable  service  they  perform. 

There  was  no  signal  corps  in  the  days  when  it  was  said, 
"The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  sound 
thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh  and  whither  it 
goeth."  Now,  the  desert  of  the  west  is  known  to  be  the  place  of 
its  birth,  and  science  has  traced  its  almost  invariable  course 
from  west  to  east,  with  a  precision  equal  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
ocean  tides. 

Although  the  cold  was  intense,  the  mercury  being  but  little 
above  zero,  and  the  wind  whistling  fiercely  around  the  corner  of 
our  stone  cabin,  we  were  up  and  out  betimes  to  see  the  rising 
of  the  sun.  As  the  dawn  approached,  the  gray  chaos  of  the 
world  below  shaped  itself  into  lesser  mountains  and  plains 
painted  in  the  sombre  colors  of  mingled  day  and  night.  Then 
light  glimmered  and  brightened  on  the  eastern  horizon,  the 
dark  tints  of  early  dawn  came  out  in  rapid  and  changing  dashes  of 


304  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

brightness  over  the  snows  of  the  mountains,  the  green  forests  of 
the  canons  and  the  boundless  russet  plains.  The  sunset  of  the 
previous  evening  impressed  us  with  majesty,  but  the  darkness 
soon  gathering  tinged  our  admiration  with  melancholy.  Far 
more  glorious  was  this  clear  sunrise  glowing  with  the  promise  of 
a  perfect  day. 

All  our  anticipations  were  more  than  realized  ;  and  with 
many  thanks  to  our  kind  entertainers,  we  began  the  descent. 
The  famished  animals,  expectant  of  water  and  oats  at  the  Lake 
House,  skipped  nimbly  over  the  rocks  and  fallen  logs,  and  when 
refreshed  finished  the  journey  with  spirit,  bringing  us  back  to 
Manitou  early  in  the  afternoon. 

I  have  not  space  to  enumerate  all  the  pleasant  excursions 
taken  from  that  delightful  watering-place.  The  mountains  are 
intersected  by  romantic  canons,  through  which  leap  the  streams 
pouring  at  last  into  the  Arkansas.  One  of  the  wildest  of  these 
is  the  Ute  Pass,  leading  to  some  of  the  mining  regions  in  the 
west. 

By  this  canon  Manitou  Park  is  approached,  distant  twenty 
miles  on  an  elevated  plain  one  thousand  feet  above  the  village. 
This  is  a  property  belonging  to  Dr.  Bell,  an  English  gentleman, 
who  has  erected  a  comfortable  hotel  for  the  accommodation  of 
summer  visitors.  In  the  winter  it  is  a  place  of  occasional  resort 
for  sportsmen,  deer  and  other  game  abounding  in  the  surround- 
ing mountains. 

Having  formed  a  hunting  party,  we  took  advantage  of  a 
wintry  day  of  the  autumn  to  visit  it.  The  seasons  are  singularly 
changeable  in  these  regions.  At  times  in  November  and  Decem- 
ber the  snow  covers  the  ground  in  the  valleys  and  the  frost  seals 
up  the  streams,  every  thing  betokening  a  Siberian  winter.  On 
the  very  next  day,  perhaps,  nature  is  freed  from  her  icy  fetters, 


A  HUNTING  EXPEDITION.  305 

and  all  is  genial  summer  again.  The  days  of  cold  are  really  the 
most  enjoyable,  for  the  effect  of  snow  upon  the  mountains  and  of 
the  icicles  pendent  from  the  trees  is  exceedingly  beautiful. 

Ascending  the  "  Ute  Pass  "  on  horseback,  our  camp  equipage 
and  provisions  followed  in  a  wagon.  We  were  fitted  out  for  the 
capture  of  herds  of  deer  and  antelope,  to  say  nothing  of  expected 
grouse  and  rabbits,  and  it  may  be  mentioned  in  the  outset  that 
we  were  disappointed  in  our  anticipations  in  this  respect,  our 
spoils,  after  three  days'  hunting,  amounting  to  one  deer,  five  jack 
rabbits  and  a  black  squirrel.  Nevertheless,  we  had  no  reason 
to  complain,  as  we  were  compensated  for  this  small  result  in 
healthy  exercise  and  the  wonderful  scenery. 

Arriving  at  evening,  a  blazing  fire  of  pine  logs  gave  a  cheer- 
ful air  to  the  almost  deserted  hotel,  or  rather  to  the  adjoining 
ranche-house,  which  is  occupied  by  the  family  in  the  winter. 
Mr.  Thornton,  the  superintendent  of  the  property,  is  an  English- 
man, and  as  Englishmen  always  bring  their  habits  with  them,  we 
were  reminded  of  the  hospitality  of  British  country  squires  on 
Christmas  holidays.  An  immense  round  of  beef  graced  the 
table,  and  venison  in  various  forms  kept  it  goodly  company. 
We  were  waited  upon  by  English  servants  who  asked  us  what 
we  would  "  be  pleased  to  'ave,"  and  altogether  the  combination 
of  English  style  and  American  backwoods  life  formed  a  pretty 
picture,  lighted  as  it  was  by  the  cheerful  glow  from  the  ample 
stone  fireplace. 

If  we  did  not  kill  much  game,  we  sang  many  songs,  told 
many  stories,  cracked  many  jokes,  and  when  we  rolled  into  our 
blankets  at  night,  we  slept  the  sleep  of  the  weary,  more  soundly 
than  others  slumber  in  cities  on  their  beds  of  ease. 

As  Mr.  Thornton  carried  on  the  farm  upon  an  expensive  as 
well  as  extensive  scale,  he  had  a  numerous  retinue  of  laborers  to 


306  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

care  for  the  cattle  and  crops.  We  all  messed  together,  the  land- 
lord and  his  guests  at  the  head  of  the  long  table,  and  a  dozen  of 
his  dependants  at  the  other  end.  We  thought  of  Cedric  the 
Saxon  and  his  family,  so  graphically  described  in  Ivanhoe, 
when  England,  like  Colorado,  was  comparatively  a  new  country, 
for  there  was  a  bonhommie  and  roughness  in  the  men  of  those 
times  like  our  own  grade  of  civilization  in  the  west. 

By  day  we  roamed  the  mountains  for  game,  and  at  night 
came  home  to  enjoy  the  ample  repast  and  comforts  of  the 
enormous  fireside.  Let  no  future  sportsman  be  discouraged, 
however,  by  our  want  of  success.  We  were  a  month  too  early 
for  the  game,  as  the  deer  were  still  upon  the  mountains.  By  and 
by,  we  were  told,  they  would  come  down  to  the  park,  and  even 
to  the  plains  about  Manitou  ;  moreover  be  it  considered,  we 
were  all  amateurs,  and  I  verily  believe  that  if  some  of  us  had 
seen  a  buck  he  would  have  stared  us  out  of  countenance. 

Leaving  Manitou  as  we  journeyed  south  on  the  Denver  and 
Rio  Grande  Railroad,  the  country  appeared  to  be  better  watered, 
both  naturally  and  artificially.  Farm  ranches  with  large  fields 
that  had  apparently  yielded  abundant  crops,  joined  each  other 
for  miles  along  the  way,  and  here  and  there  were  to  be  seen  col- 
lections of  pretty  white  frame  houses,  not  unlike  New  England 
villages.  All  this  land  is  fertilized  by  various  little  streams, 
leisurely  doing  good  on  their  way  to  the  Arkansas. 

Forty-three  miles  from  our  starting  point,  brought  us  to 
Pueblo. 


PUEBLO. 


3°7 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Pueblo — The  Denver  and  Rio  Grande,  and  the  Atchison, 
Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  Railroads — Canon  City — The 
Grand  Canon  of  the  Arkansas — Denver  again — Colo- 
rado Central  Railroad — Idaho  Springs — Georgetown — 
General  Grant's  Drive — Return  to  the  Line  of  the 
Union  Pacific. 

Pueblo  was  the  first  place  of  more  than  ephemeral  existence 
we  had  entered.  It  claims  an  antiquity  of  a  far  greater  boast 
than  the  two  decades  which  are  the  longest  measure  of  modern 
settlements. 

It  was  a  Mexican  town,  as  its  name  indicates.  When  our 
countrymen  obtained  possession  of  the  unknown  regions  ceded 
by  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  the  pioneers  found  on  this 
spot  a  collection  of  adobe  huts,  a  Catholic  church  and  a  pul- 
peria,  which  are  the  elements  of  a  Mexican  town,  as  one  or  two 
frame  buildings  and  a  billiard  saloon  are  of  an  American  city. 
Why  the  name  was  not  changed  to  Smithville  or  Brownopolis 
does  not  appear.  For  once  we  were  out  of  names,  and  Pueblo 
was  adopted  into  the  family  without  a  new  christening.  Its 
"  greasers  "  became  free  and  enlightened  Americans  by  a  stroke 


308  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

of  a  pen,  as  the  negroes  rose  to  that  proud  distinction  by  the 
fifteenth  amendment,  and,  like  them,  they  have  since  aided  in 
making  our  laws,  and  assessing  property-holders  for  taxes.  Indi- 
ans and  Chinese  will  come  into  possession  of  the  franchise 
next,  if  they  can  be  calculated  upon  t6  vote  for  the  party  in 
power. 

But  Pueblo  has  been  rescued  from  the  hands  of  its  original 
inhabitants.  The  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Railway  passes 
through  it  from  the  north,  and  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa 
Fe  has  reached  it  from  the  east.  Already  it  is  the  second  town 
of  the  State  in  number  of  inhabitants,  and  rivals  in  hope  the 
settlement  of  Colorado  Springs.  Here  too  is  established  the 
Central  Improvement  Company,  whose  profits  are  invested  in 
ditching,  grading,  laying  out  town  lots,  building  school-houses, 
and  making  ready  for  the  immense  population  expected  to  pour 
into  it  as  soon  as  business  is  lively  again. 

When  one  of  these  western  railroads  commences  its  travels,  no 
prophet  can  tell  where  it  will  bring  up.  It  goes  on  its  mission 
of  civilization,  comfort  and  wealth,  stretching  itself  in  length  and 
ramifying  right  and  left  until  it  spreads  like  arteries  and  veins 
over  the  body  of  the  land. 

So  this  enterprising  railroad  company,  hearing  of  coal  mines 
to  the  west,  have  projected  and  completed  a  branch  to  Canon 
City,  along  the  banks  of  the  Arkansas.  As  we  turned  off  upon 
this  road  from  Pueblo,  our  way  through  the  canon  was  a  delight- 
ful contrast  to  the  uninteresting  road  over  the  plains.  Passing 
a  few  miles  beyond  the  coal  mines,  which  by  means  of  this 
branch  are  made  productive  for  the  region  round  about,  we 
arrived  in  the  evening  at  Canon  City,  and  were  quartered  at  a 
hotel  which  might  have  seemed  comfortable  if  we  had  not  been 
spoiled  by  the  luxury  at  Manitou. 


CANON  CITY.  309 

The  bright  sunlight  of  Colorado,  where  clouds  and  storms 
are  rare,  displayed  in  the  morning  a  pretty  little  town  nestled 
under  the  mountains  at  the  outlet  of  the  Great  Canon  of  the 
Arkansas. 

Canon  City  derives  its  name  from  this  wonderful  gorge  in  the 
cliffs,  and  owes  its  prosperity  to  its  facilities  for  supplying  the 
mines  of  the  upper  regions.  Its  mineral  springs  are  not  unlike 
those  of  Manitou,  soda  and  iron  being  the  chief  ingredients  ; 
and  it  may  be  safely  affirmed  that  they  are  good  for  all  imagin- 
ary diseases. 

When  the  country  is  more  developed,  and  better  hotels  and 
lodging-houses  are  furnished,  doubtless  the  advantages  of  Canon 
City  as  a  health  resort  will  commend  themselves.  Behind  the 
town  the  mountains  rise  abruptly,  forbidding  a  further  progress 
of  the  railroad  over  an  insurmountable  grade.  But  it  has  been 
estimated  that  the  road  could  be  continued  through  the  Grand 
Canon,  eleven  and  a  half  miles,  by  being  chiselled  out  of  the 
rocks,  at  a  cost  a  little  short  of  $100,000  per  mile. 

The  cost  scarcely  enters  into  consideration  in  view  of  the 
recent  developments  in  Leadville,  which  almost  justify  the  wildest 
dreams- of  the  exuberant  Major  McAllister.  Leadville  is  now 
the  great  objective  point  to  which  all  the  Colorado  railroads 
are  extending,  each  eager  for  its  share  of  the  prey.  The 
Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe,  having  leased  the  Canon  City 
branch  of  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  road,  are  actually  carry- 
ing it  in  through  the  pass,  presently  to  be  described. 

In  treating  of  Colorado,  I  realize  the  truth  of  a  remark  made 
by  a  friend  who  has  just  returned.  "If  one  undertakes  to  show 
the  exact  situations  of  things  there,  he  must  print  his  sketches 
on  the  day  they  are  written."  A  year  ago  we  would  have 
said  that  seven  or  eight  million  dollars  would  be    its   annual 


310  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

yield  of  silver  and  gold.  As  these  pages  are  going  to  press, 
we  have  from  a  reliable  source  the  following  estimate  of  its 
prosperity. 

"  During  the  last  few  days  estimates  have  been  shown,  made  by 
old  miners,  of  the  gold  and  silver  product  of  Colorado  for  1879. 
The  lowest  is  about  as  follows  : — 

Leadville  and  Ten  Mile $12,000,000 

Silver  Cliff,   Rosita,  &c 5,000,000 

Gilpin  County 4,000,000 

Clear  Creek  County 4,500,000 

San  Juan  County 1,000,000 

Park,  Summit,  and  Boulder  1,500,000 

Total $28,000,000 

"  This  would  be  more  than  three  times  the  yield  of  any  pre- 
vious year.  But  so  good  an  authority  as  Senator  Chaffee  is  of 
the  opinion  that  the  output  at  Leadville  alone,  from  the  time  that 
a  railroad  gets  there,  will  reach  $3,000,000  a  month.  Whatever 
the  results  of  this  year's  mining  shall  be,  depends  more  upon  the 
milling  and  transportation  facilities  than  any  thing  else.  It  is 
agreed  upon  all  sides  that  the  ease  with  which  the  carbonates  are 
mined,  and  the  wonderfully  rich  manner  in  which  they  are  show- 
ing up,  make  it  no  exaggeration  to  expect  a  bullion  output  of  all 
the  way  from  $20,000,000  to  $40,000,000  from  Colorado  this 
year." 

We  took  a  wagon  to  ascend  by  a  zig-zag  road  to  the  top  of 
the  mountains,  through  which  the  Arkansas  pours  its  waters 
from  the  plains  nearly  twelve  miles  above.  To  reach  this  emi- 
nence, whence  the  best  view  is  obtained,  is  a  labor  lightened  by 
varying  glimpses  of  distant  snow-capped  mountains  and  passages 
through  the  natural  parks  with  which  the  country  abounds. 
These  are  the  abodes  of  elk  and  deer  in  abundance,  although 
the  enterprising  rancheros  are  encroaching  on  the  wild  domain 


THE  GRAND  CAAON.  3I1 

for  their  own  cattle  and  sheep.  The  side-hills  abound  in  timber, 
and  the  levels  are  covered  with  luxuriant  grass  in  summer,  turn- 
ing to  standing  hay  in  the  winter,  thus  offering  abundant  pas- 
turage all  the  year. 

We  made  the  ten  miles  in  a  little  more  than  three  hours,  and 
came  to  the  summit  table-land.  Between  us  and  the  plain  beyond 
was  a  yawning  chasm,  of  such  fearful  and  precipitous  depth  that 
we  were  brought  to  a  sudden  stand,  from  which  we  stared  into 
the  gulf  below,  appalled  at  its  immensity.  To  look  down  perpen- 
dicularly two  thousand  five  hundred  feet,  was  something  to  make 
the  brain  whirl  with  dizziness. 

The  Arkansas,  no  insignificant  river  as  we  found  it  when 
crossing  it,  threaded  its  way  along  like  a  narrow  ribbon  dropped 
from  these  aerial  heights,  and  the  tall  trees,  as  the  glass  revealed 
them  to  be,  swept  down  by  the  current  and  piled  here  and  there 
on  the  rocks,  were  to  our  unaided  vision  like  handspikes  or 
walking-sticks.  We  rolled  some  of  the  largest  rocks  that  all  our 
appliances  could  bring  to  the  edge  of  the  cliff  into  the  river. 
When  they  reached  the  water  they  dropped  noiselessly  as  fine 
shot  into  a  basin  ;  all  things,  and  we  ourselves  more  than  all, 
lessening  to  nothing  in  our  august  surroundings. 

We  strayed  from  one  point  of  observation  to  another  for  miles 
along  the  cliffs,  catching  the  sunlight  touches  and  the  dark 
shadows  on  the  winding  walls  of  this  wonderful  gorge,  and  tracing 
the  stream  in  its  tortuous  course,  sometimes  black  as  night  and 
again  glistening  like  a  silver  streak  in  the  sunshine.  There  are 
photographs  of  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Arkansas  that  may  be 
purchased,  but  the  photographs  of  art  cannot  overcome  its  per- 
verse propensity  to  cheat  in  proportions.  The  photograph  of 
the  memory  is  distinct,  clear  and  indelible,  and  such  will  ever  be 
our  recollection  of  this  stupendous  scene. 


312  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

From  Pueblo,  the  point  of  return  on  the  route  north  to 
Denver,  the  railroad  continues  southerly  through  Trinidad,  to 
which  place  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  have  extended 
their  road  from  La  Junta,  proposing  to  go  on  toward  the  Rio 
Grande,  looking,  like  it,  for  a  terminus  on  the  Pacific.  The 
resources  upon  which  it  depends  are  the  pastoral  and  farming 
lands  of  the  new  country,  and  the  business  that  increasing  immi- 
gration will  bring. 

These  references  to  various  railroad  ramifications  may  perplex 
the  tourist,  but  wherever  he  goes  in  Colorado  he  will  soon  find 
some  railroad  on  which  he  can  travel  in  any  direction  and 
for  any  distance. 

First  impressions  of  Denver  were  not  favorable,  for  they  were 
of  dust  in  the  air,  dust  on  the  floors,  dust  everywhere.  Scarcely 
were  they  blown  away  when  our  second  impressions  were  given 
in  snow.  Not  a  good  healthy  snow  storm,  such  as  in  Vermont 
gives  promise  of  the  music  of  sleigh  bells  and  warm  comfort 
under  buffalo  robes  ;  but  each  flake  brought  with  it  a  drop  of 
water,  and  when  they  reached  the  ground  they  carpeted  the 
streets  and  sidewalks  with  gray  slushy  mud,  unpleasant  to  look 
at,  and  unhealthy  to  wade  through.  Yet  Denver  is  the  winter 
resort  of  invalids.  It  was  the  middle  of  November,  and  they  were 
pouring  in  from  the  springs  and  ranches  where  they  had  passed 
the  summer  and  autumn.  Hotels  and  boarding-houses  were  full 
of  them.  Ghost-like  they  glided  through  the  corridors  and 
shivered  in  the  parlors  and  at  the  dining  tables.  Waiters  were 
seen  on  the  staircases  carrying  meals  to  the  rooms  of  those  who 
would  never  leave  them  again,  and  the  direful  echos  of  hollow 
coughs  resounded  through  the  halls.  On  sunny  days,  pale  men 
and  women  crept  out  upon  the  balconies,  or  were  propped  by 
tender  hands  in  pillowed  easy  chairs  to  bask  in  the  warm  light. 


COLORADO  CENTRAL  RALLROAD.  313 

Just  then  the  slaughter-house  cure  was  a  favorite  treatment  at 
Denver.  Every  day  the  death  of  oxen  and  cows  was  anticipated 
as  renewed  life  to  men  and  women.  When  the  doors  of  the 
slaughter-houses  were  opened,  a  throng  rushed  in  ready  to  catch 
the  ebbing  life  of  the  doomed  animals.  As  the  warm  red  current 
gushes  forth,  glasses  were  held  to  be  filled  from  the  stream  by 
people  who  stood  around  like  the  habitues  of  Congress  Spring, 
to  have  their  tumblers  replenished.  The  blood  of  beasts  is  thus 
better  utilized  than  in  ancient  sacrifices,  if  indeed  its  virtue  is  not 
imaginary. 

The  Colorado  Central  was  the  first  railroad  to  radiate  from 
Denver  after  the  Kansas  Pacific  had  reached  it  from  the  east, 
and  assured  the  development  of  the  territory.  To  the  Ames 
family  of  Boston  belongs  the  inception  of  this  undertaking,  as  to 
one  of  them,  whose  meritorious  enterprise  will  be  remembered 
after  the  unjust  obloquy  which  has  been  attached  to  his  name 
shall  have  passed  away,  may  be  attributed  the  most  efficient  pro- 
motion of  the  Great  Union  Pacific. 

The  Messrs.  Ames  carried  their  broad  gauge  track  as  far 
as  it  was  feasible,  to  Golden  City,  and  then  as  the  only  means  of 
reaching  the  mineral  district  through  Clear  Creek  Canon,  adopted 
the  narrow  gauge,  which  has  since  come  into  general  use  in  the 
west.  It  was  an  imperative  necessity,  for  it  must  pass  over  a 
grade  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feel,  and  for  a  short  dis- 
tance of  even  two  hundred  and  seventy-three  feet  to  the  mile. 
Moreover,  it  has  been  found  that  in  point  of  cost  and  in  the 
expense  of  working,  only  about  one-half  the  outlay  is  required  by 
the  new  system.  No  one  can  pass  over  its  line  without  admiring 
the  engineering  skill  of  its  construction,  surmounting  obstacles 
that  many  incredulous  minds  considered  impossibilities. 

The  credit  of  this  stupendous  work  is  due  to  Mr.  T.  E.  Sickels 


314  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

whose  name  ought  to  be  identified  with  the  enterprise  carried 
through  by  his  resolute  skill. 

It  has  already  reached  the  apparently  insurmountable  barrier 
of  the  "  Snowy  Range,"  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

We  left  Denver  in  a  driving  snow  storm,  scarcely  an  object 
of  interest  visible  from  the  windows  of  the  railway  carriage,  and 
arriving  at  Golden,  were  transferred  to  the  narrow  gauge.  As 
we  passed  upward  through  the  narrow  and  precipitous  canon, 
the  clouds  broke  and  displayed  a  scene  of  wonders.  The 
bare  rocks  stood  out  in  bold  relief  from  the  sparkling  snow,  and 
the  pines  in  their  fleecy  dress  of  winter  were  more  than  ever 
beautiful.  Turning  and  twisting  through  rocks  and  ice-clad 
defiles  for  eighteen  miles,  we  thought  of  the  great  power  that  had 
riven  the  cliffs  asunder  with  only  more  admiration  than  we  ac- 
corded to  the  daring  engineers,  who,  lowered  in  ropes  from  the 
crags  overhead,  first  surveyed  the  route,  and  ventured  with  their 
human  skill  to  combat  the  forces  of  nature. 

This  canon,  twenty-five  years  since  bordering  smoothly  the 
side  of  its  stream,  has  been,  for  its  fifty  miles  of  length,  picked 
and  turned  over  to  the  bed  rock  and  sifted  for  the  precious 
deposits,  until  it  is  as  rough  as  the  overhanging  crags.  Along 
the  railroad  line  are  to  be  seen  conduits,  sluices  and  winches, 
used  in  the  process  of  placer  mining,  or  abandoned  when  they 
have  served  their  purposes.  A  few  miners  of  the  ancient  per- 
suasion still  pursue  their  labors,  although  the  best  pockets  have 
been  cleaned  out,  and  the  chances  of  nuggets  are  so  small  that 
average  daily  earnings  are  scarcely  more  than  the  miner's  sup- 
port. The  great  crowd  have  left  the  exhausted  placers  for  the 
mountains,  where,  under  the  organized  system  of  capitalists  or 
corporations,  there  is  either  great  wealth  to  be  gained  or  dis- 
astrous failure  to  be  experienced. 


GEOR GE  TO  WN.  3  x  r 

The  poor  man,  instead  of  working  for  himself  is  a  day- 
laborer  for  hire,  and  the  rich  man  becomes  either  a  millionaire 
or  a  bankrupt.  This  is  the  tendency  of  all  business  at  the 
present  day  as  conducted  by  "  soulless  corporations,"  and  yet 
corporations  have  done  a  good  work  for  the  country.  Without 
them  railroads  and  telegraph  lines  could  not  have  been  built,  and 
progress  would  have  come  to  a  stand-still. 

A  corporation  might  do  something  for  Idaho  Springs.  It 
began  its  career  as  a  mining  camp,  and  now  aspires  to  be  a 
watering-place  and  sanitarium,  like  Manitou. 

Here  is  also  a  fine  climate,  unusual  seasons  excepted.  It  is 
in  the  midst  of  romantic  mountain  scenery,  7,400  feet  above  the 
sea  level.  Its  mineral  springs,  hot  and  cold,  of  iron  and  soda, 
are  said  to  be  wonderfully  efficacious.  It  is  of  easy  access,  only 
thirty-six  miles  or  three  hours  from  Denver,  but  there  is  no 
"  Improvement  Company  "  to  spend  money  in  making  it  attrac- 
tive. No  pretty  temples  are  built  over  its  springs,  which  resemble 
unreclaimed  cesspools.  No  shady  walks  with  arbors  of  trained 
clematis  are  laid  out,  and  there  is  no  order  or  beauty  in  the 
buildings  that  straggle  about  in  the  uniformity  of  ugliness,  still 
preserving  the  wretched  characteristics  of  a  mining  camp. 

Georgetown,  fourteen  miles  beyond  Idaho  Springs,  is  the 
terminus  of  this  branch  of  the  Colorado  Central. 

In  1866  it  was  a  mere  "  camp  "  in  the  first  year  of  its  exist- 
ence, and  the  total  value  of  its  productions  was  only  $500.  It 
is  now  forced  up  against  the  abrupt  precipices  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  the  human  current  having  flowed  upwards  to  a  level 
of  8,400  feet,  and  there  spread  itself  into  the  streets  of  a  city. 
Its  people  may  well  be  proud  of  their  enterprise  and  wealth. 
Before  them  they  have  bright  anticipations  reflected  from  the 
tons  of  solid  ore,  inexhaustible  in  the  mountains  around  them. 


316  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

Already  they  have  churches  of  every  denomination.  George- 
town has  its  high  school,  its  halls  for  theatrical  representations, 
lectures  and  political  gatherings,  without  which  the  mountain 
eagles  would  droop  and  die,  if  they  could  not  pick  at  each 
other  with  their  beaks.  It  has  its  fashionable  Stewart's  for 
ladies,  and  saloons  and  billiard  rooms  for  gentlemen,  hotels  for 
genuine  comfort,  newspapers,  libraries  and  museums  for  general 
entertainment,  in  fact,  all  that  can  make  happy  this  little  secluded 
world. 

In  wintry  weather  we  could  not  visit  with  advantage  the  sur- 
roundings of  Georgetown.  Above  it  is  "  Green  Lake,"  a  favorite 
resort  in  summer,  and  then  clear  and  transparent  down  to  its 
emerald  depths.  The  "  Devil's  Gate,"  the  "  Bridal  Veil,"  and 
other  resorts  of  fantastic  names  are  in  the  list  of  show  places, 
and  beyond  all  rises  the  lofty  summit  of  Gray's  Peak,  in  summer 
as  well  as  winter  wrapped  in  perpetual  snow.  Even  had  it  been 
practicable  to  climb  to  its  top,  we  would  have  been  satisfied  with 
our  ascent  to  Pike's  Peak,  of  equal  height,  as  adventure  enough  for 
one  summer.  Warned  by  the  portentous  snow  clouds  wreathing 
the  mountains  and  creeping  towards  the  canon,  we  hastened 
back  to  Idaho  Springs,  where,  sorely  against  inclination,  we  were 
blocked  up  by  storms  for  nearly  a  week. 

Central  City  is  situated  on  the  branch  of  Clear  Creek,  from 
which  we  diverged  in  ascending  the  railway.  A  ridge  of  the 
mountains  known  as  "  the  divide  "  separates  it  from  Idaho,  six 
miles  away.  The  summit  of  the  pass  is  about  equi-distant  from 
the  two  towns,  and  the  route  between  them,  an  equal  transit  up 
and  down  hill  with  an  elevation  of  one  thousand  feet  to  be  over- 
come, must  be  through  Virginia  Canon  on  the  Idaho  side,  and  by 
Russel's  Gulch  from  Central  City.     In   many  places  the  road  is 


GENERAL  GRANT'S  DRIVE.  ^^ 

very  steep  and  cut  around  sharp  turns.  It  was  on  this  moun- 
tain that  Gen.  Grant  took  his  memorable  drive. 

"  You  see,"  said  Opdyke,  "  this  was  how  it  was.  I've  been 
twitted  about  it  because  I'm  a  democrat,  and  folks  said  I  wanted 
to  kill  him  on  that  account — just  as  if  I  wanted  to  kill  myself 
too  !  I  hain't  got  enough  political  principle  for  that.  It  was 
all  a  mistake  about  our  getting  down  so  quick.  After  we  got  a 
little  over  the  divide,  and  I  was  puttin'  on  'em  along  tol'ble  fast, 
the  president  says  he,  '  Bill,  how  long  will  it  be  before  we  get 
down  ? ' 

"  '  About  twenty  minutes,  or  it  may  be  twenty-five,'  says  I. 

"  'Couldn't  you  make  it  twice  as  much? '  says  he. 

"  Now  I  understood  him  '  twice  as  quick,'  and  accordin'  I  slung 
out  the  silk  to  please  him.  Well,  they  did  lick  it,  that's  a  fact ! 
Why,  sir,  we  come  around  some  of  the  curves  with  both  side 
wheels  in  the  air  for  forty  rods  at  a  time,  so  that  a  fellow  who 
come  along  a  spell  behind  us  said  I  drove  down  in  a  wheel-barrow. 

"  The  general,  he  gripped  on  to  the  bars  and  clinched  his 
teeth,  and  actooally  bit  his  cigar  in  two,  so  it  dropped  out  of  his 
mouth,  but  he  didn't  say  nothin'  till  I  reined  up  at  Beebe's  just 
ten  minutes  from  the  time  he  spoke  first,  and  them  six  horses 
stood  smoking  like  six  high  pressure  ingines.  When  we  got  off 
onto  the  stoop,  the  president  drawed  back,  and  showing  his  ha'r 
says  he,  '  Mr.  William  Opdyke,  take  my  hat,  you're  the  only  man 
that  ever  scared  me  ! '  " 

It  was  not  in  the  power  of  Opdyke  to  frighten  us  with  this 
style  of  driving,  for  the  journey  over  the  mountain  from  Idaho 
Springs  to  Central  City  was  the  work  of  a  whole  clay.  The  snow 
had  fallen  to  the  depth  of  two  feet,  and  in  some  places  much 
more.  As  we  toiled  up  the  ascent  with  frequent  stops  that 
almost  amounted  to  an  habitual  stand-still,  we    had    abundant 


3i3  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

leisure  to  admire  the  charms  of  the  wintry  landscape,  but  the 
poetry  of  "  Beautiful  Snow  "  was  not  inspiring  enough  to  over- 
come the  weariness  of  slow  progress,  the  biting  nips  of  the  frost, 
and  the  sweeps  of  the  fierce  nor'-wester  that  whirled  its  white 
wreaths  around  us. 

As  we  came  down  the  slope  towards  Central  City  there  was 
no  display  of  coach  driving  calculated  to  alarm  timid  outsiders, 
but  the  jaded  beasts,  urged  on  by  an  unsparing  lash,  barely  suc- 
ceeded in  staggering  to  the  door  of  the  Teller  House,  the 
principal  hotel  of  the  place,  and  considering  its  first-class  pre- 
tensions, realized  only  in  its  high  prices,  the  most  cheerless  and 
uncomfortable  house  of  entertainment  we  had  yet  seen  in 
Colorado. 

Central  City  was  almost  totally  destroyed  by  fire  a  few  years 
ago.  It  is  now  rebuilt  and  ready  for  another  similar  experience. 
Here  where  gold  has  been  scooped  up  by  the  handfuls  no  use 
is  made  of  it  to  make  life  comfortable  or  any  thing  more  than 
endurable.  The  town  is  one  vast  mining  gulch,  with  shapeless 
houses  dumped  here  and  there  among  the  excavations,  and  cling- 
ing to  the  side  hills. 

Black  Hawk,  where  the  reduction  works  are  chiefly  in  oper- 
ation, so  closely  connected  with  Central  City  that  it  may  be 
considered  a  part  of  the  town,  is  at  the  terminus  of  the  western 
fork  of  the  railroad. 

Silver  is  the  great  product  of  the  East  Creek  Canon.  On 
this  side  of  the  ridge  the  mineral  chiefly  produced  is  gold.  We 
were  escorted  by  a  guide  for  more  than  a  mile  under  the 
mountains  through  the  tunnel  of  the  Bob-tail  works,  turning  off  at 
different  points  to  inspect  side  galleries,  steam  engines  and  little 
colonies  of  people  busy  in  the  subterranean  darkness,  by  the  dim 
illumination  of  tallow  candles. 


RETURN  TO   THE  UNION  PACIFIC.  319 

It  was  Sunday,  the  day  on  which  in  quiet  towns  there  is  a 
tallowed  rest  from  labor,  the  stillness  of  the  air  only  broken  by 
the  music  of  church  bells,  and  godliness  and  cleanliness  sit  down 
together  for  one-seventh  of  the  week  in  peace.  There  is  hap- 
piness without  gold.  Here  is  gold  without  happiness.  Ever 
toiling,  day  and  night,  week-days  and  Sabbaths,  in  darkness, 
begrimed  with  dirt,  amidst  the  clatter  of  machinery,  under  the 
drippings  of  shafts  and  tunnels,  the  pale-faced  miner  works  for 
the  yellow  dust  that  blinds  his  eyes  to  the  sweet  enjoyment 
of  life. 

We  descended  the  western  branch  of  the  railroad  until  we 
came  to  the  point  from  which  we  had  diverged  on  the  upward 
track  to  Georgetown,  and  then  through  Clear  Creek  Canon  came 
out  at  the  foot  of  the  narrow  gauge  road  in  Golden  City.  This 
little  place  may  be  said  to  live  from  the  gold  and  silver  washes 
of  the  upper  canons,  having  its  refineries  and  works  for  reducing 
both  metals. 

At  Golden  we  come  again  to  the  broad  gauge  track,  by  which 
a  direct  connection  is  made  with  the  Union  Pacific  five  miles 
west  of  Cheyenne,  distance  119  miles.  One  may  return,  if  de- 
sirable, from  Golden  to  Denver,  17  miles,  and  thence  take  the 
Kansas  Pacific  for  the  east. 

From  a  more  southern  part  of  the  State,  the  Atchison,  Topeka 
and  Santa  Fe  forms  a  straight  line  to  St.  Louis. 


32D  THE  ROUND  TRIP 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Cheyenne — Projected  Railroad  to  the  Black  Hills — 
The  Great  Cattle  Range — Life  of  the  Ranchman — 
Suggestions  to  Young  Men — Nebraska — Omaha — The 
Bridge  Across  the  Missouri — Railroads  to  Chicago — 
The  Chicago  and  North-West — A  Dinner  in  the 
Hotel-Car — Contrast  of  Mining  and  Agriculture — 
Conclusion. 

Various  points  on  the  Union  Pacific  afford  communication 
with  the  Black  Hills,  north  of  its  line,  in  Dakota. 

The  measured  distance  from  some  of  these  places  may  be 
less  than  from  Cheyenne,  but  after  careful  surveys  for  grade 
this  has  been  found  most  suitable  for  the  starting-point  of  a 
branch  railroad.  Moreover,  the  selection  has  been  influenced 
by  the  connection  here  with  Colorado.  Accordingly,  the  con- 
struction of  a  narrow  gauge  has  been  determined  to  Deaclwood, 
the  chief  mining  camp  of  the  Black  Hills,  this  summer,  the 
whole  distance  to  be  not   far  from  two  hundred  miles. 

The  ore  of  the  Black  Hills,  although  of  low  grade,  is  abun- 
dant, and  gold  mining  has  been  very  profitable,  notwithstanding 


LIFE  OF  THE  RANCHMAN.  321 

the  disadvantages  of  transportation.  The  "  Homestake  "  and 
other  mines  have  put  up  their  machinery  at  excessive  cost,  and 
yet  are  able  to  declare  large  dividends  upon  their  stock.  As 
soon  as  the  railroad  reaches  Deadwood,  or  by  the  time  it  has 
made  any  considerable  advance,  such  a  stimulus  will  be  given  to 
mining  and  the  business  connected  with  it,  that  the  enterprise 
cannot  fail  to  be  successful.  Already  Cheyenne  derives  no 
small  profit  from  this  trade. 

Before  the  gold  discoveries,  it  was  a  large  town  centred  in 
the  best  cattle  district  of  the  West.  Whatever  the  success  oi 
miners,  whether  there  may  be  exhaustion  or  new  discoveries  of 
mines,  ranchmen  will  never  be  poor  and  cattle  will  multiply 
beyond  calculation.  These  vast  plains,  watered  by  the  Platte 
river  and  its  branches,  in  summer  covered  with  luxuriant  grass 
converted  to  rich  standing  hay  in  winter,  are  capable  of  sustain- 
ing cattle,  sheep  and  horses  in  numbers  that  I  will  not  estimate 
for  fear  of  being  accused  of  exaggeration. 

The  life  of  a  ranchman — at  least  of  some  ranchmen — doubt- 
less has  its  hardships.  Before  undertaking  it,  a  man  should 
make  his  calculations.  A  trial  balance  should  suggest  itself  to 
his  mind.  Ranch  life  is  debtor  to  a  total  change  of  habits,  to  the 
loss  of  "  society,"  theatres,  lectures,  clubs  and  churches,  besides 
many  bodily  comforts  and  table  luxuries.  It  is  creditor  by  profit- 
able business,  out  of  door  exercise,  the  society  of  nature  in- 
stead of  fellow-creatures,  and  above  all,  by  health  of  body  and 
of  mind.  With  this  account  before  his  eyes,  let  a  would-be 
ranchman  sit  down,  calmly  reflect  and  decide.  Were  I  a  young 
man  looking  about  for  a  business  in  life,  I  should  draw  a  balance 
in  favor  of  Laramie  plains. 

It  may  be  asked,  "  Would  you  take  a  wife  to  live  with  you  on 
a  ranch  ? " 

31 


322  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

Certainly  I  would  not  take  the  Miss  Culture  introduced  in 
the  early  part  of  this  narrative  ;  I  would  not  take  there  a  woman 
who  is  merely  a  fine  lady,  but  I  would  take  a  lady  who  is  a 
true  woman. 

This  is  not  poetry  j  it  is  not  the  sentimentality  of  "love  in  a 
cottage  ; "  it  is  practical.  It  is  not  the  whole  solution  of  prob- 
lems of  financial  depression,  over-production,  unequal  divisions 
of  property,  vice  and  misery,  but  it  is  a  skirmisher  upon  the 
flanks  of  those  evils. 

Ranch  life  is  a  return  to  first  principles  of  living  to  patri- 
archal simplicity.  When  we  talk  of  "  sitting  down  in  heaven 
with  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,"  let  us  begin  by  sitting  down 
after  their  example  on  earth. 

But  young  men  must  not  be  led  to  suppose  that  cattle  raising 
is  an  invariable  success.  Even  to  those  who  thoroughly  under- 
stand the  business,  there  come  years  of  failure,  occasional  severe 
winters,  distemper  among  the  herds,  Indian  raids,  thefts  by  white 
men,  dull  markets,  and  many  other  discouragements. 

Experience  is  more  necessary  than  is  generally  supposed. 
Don't  imagine  that  you  may  lay  aside  your  walking  cane,  quit 
the  Fifth  avenue  promenade,  jump  out  of  your  faultless  clothes, 
rig  yourself  out  in  blue  woollen  shirt  and  buckskin  trousers,  take 
the  train  for  Laramie  plains,  buy  a  herd  of  cattle,  mount  a  mus- 
tang and  be  an  accomplished  ranchman  in  a  week. 

You  would  be  bucked  from  your  horse  in  less  than  three 
minutes;  you  would  lose  your  cattle  in  the  first  year  by  theft  and 
your  own  ignorance,  and  then  you  would  come  home  disgusted. 

Abandon  the  city  and  all  your  old  conventional  habits.  Go 
west  to  seek  employment  from  some  man  who  has  been  success- 
ful in  the  business.  Get  what  wages  you  can  for  one  or  two 
years ;  work  for  nothing  if  you  can  get  no  pay,  and  if  no  one 


OMAHA,  223 

will  employ  you  on  these  terms,  pay  for  the  privilege  of  working. 
Your  father  has  probably  paid  ten  times  more  for  your  useless 
Latin  and  Greek  than  it  will  now  cost  you  to  get  the  practical 
information  you  require.  Remember  that  no  log  cabin  is  so  rude 
that  it  cannot  contain  a  library,  and  reading  is  never  so  well 
digested  as  when  it  is  an  accompaniment  of  work. 

We  are  at  Cheyenne,  six  thousand  feet  above  the  sea  level, 
five  hundred  and  sixteen  miles  west  of  Omaha,  towards  which  we 
gradually  descend  over  this  great  cattle  range  to  the  lower  plains 
of  Nebraska. 

Here  are  the  rich  farming  lands  owned  by  Government  and 
the  Union  Pacific  railroad  in  alternate  sections.  They  are  fast 
coming  under  cultivation,  so  that  in  five  years  from  this  time  there 
will  scarcely  be  an  untilled  acre  on  the  line  of  the  road  through 
the  whole  State. 

"  Oumahaw,"  on  the  west  bank  of  the  "  Mizourah,"  as  town 
and  river  are  called  in  the  vernacular,  was  once  the  capital  and 
is  still  the  most  prosperous  city  of  Nebraska. 

Although  it  does  not  correspond  with  our  Eastern  ideas  of 
municipal  grandeur,  it  is  a  very  respectable  town  of  20,000  in- 
habitants, well  provided  with  saloons,  churches  and  schools,  of 
which  the  High  School,  set  on  its  chief  eminence  as  a  proud 
monument  to  be  seen  by  all  travellers,  boasts  facilities  for 
"giving  a  fellow  all  the  learning  worth  having." 

Wiser  than  the  Knickerbockers,  who  did  not  foresee  that  the 
avenue  they  called  Broadway  would  be  in  the  future  too  narrow 
for  traffic,  the  people  of  Omaha  have  laid  out  all  their  streets 
one  hundred  feet  wide,  so  that  when  the  day  comes  for  rapid 
transit,  they  will  not  be  blocked  up  by  omnibuses  while  the 
question  is  debated. 

That  eccentric  gentleman,   George  Francis  Train,  who  has 


324  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

cultivated  many  grains  of  sense  with  all  his  wild  tares,  had  much 
to  do  with  the  development  of  Omaha.  He  fully  appreciated  its 
natural  advantages,  and  earnestly  advocated  the  construction  of 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  which  starts  from  this  point. 

This  great  work  was  begun  in  the  latter  part  of  1865.  It  was 
then  Train  made  the  prophecy  that  it  it  would  be  completed 
in  less  than  five  years.  He  was  called  a  crazy  enthusiast  for  this 
speech,  as  well  as  for  many  other  sayings  and  doings  for  which 
he  merited  the  name.  But  when  the  road  was  actually  com- 
pleted in  a  little  more  than  three  years  and  a  half,  no  one  gave 
him  the  credit  his  prediction  deserved.  Train  invested  all  his 
money  in  Omaha  lands,  but  taxes  and  financial  panics  have  been 
too  much  for  him  to  bear  while  he  had  also  on  his  hands  the 
liberation  of  Ireland,  the  prospective  Presidency  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  conversion  of  all  mankind  to  his  own  skeptical 
philosophy. 

The  Union  Pacific  Railroad  may  well  be  proud  of  the  great 
bridge  that  spans  the  river  here. 

A  steamboat  captain  on  the  train,  however,  remarked  that 
"the  durned  river  ain't  to  be  trusted;  the  channel  changes  so 
often  that  the  bend  that's  here  to-day  may  be  ten  mile  off  in  a 
year  or  two,  and  then  what's  the  good  of  this  bridge  ? "  He  was 
opposed  to  railroads,  as  they  had  injured  his  business,  and  so  he 
trumped  up  this  charge  against  the  river  that  refuses  to  sup- 
port him  any  longer. 

I  suggested  that,  in  case  his  anticipations  were  realized,  the 
bridge  could  be  removed  to  suit  the  convenience  of  the  Missouri, 
to  which  he  replied  that  "it  might  not  fit."  "  Anyway," he  said, 
"  railroads  are  a  perversion  of  nature  ;  the  Lord  made  rivers  to 
raft  and  steamboat  on,  and  if  they  ain't  enough  men  could  make 
canals,  and  He'd  find  water  for   'em.     He  never  meant   that 


A  DINNER  IN  THE  HOTEL-CAR.  325 

these  corporations  should  take  away  the  business  of  honest 
men." 

After  crossing  the  bridge  there  is  a  choice  of  three  railroads 
from  Council  Bluffs  to  Chicago — the  Chicago  and  North-West, 
the  Rock  Island  and  the  Burlington  and  Quincy  roads.  They 
run  on  nearly  parallel  lines  at  sufficient  distance  apart  to  de- 
velop the  resources  of  Iowa  and  Illinois,  States  excelled  by 
none  of  the  Union  in  soil  adapted  to  wheat  and  corn. 

These  roads  are  all  singularly  profitable  notwithstanding 
their  close  competition.  Their  trains  leave  at  the  same  time  and 
arrive  in  Chicago  together  to  form  a  connection  with  the  Lake 
Shore  Railroad  to  Buffalo.  Without  disparaging  the  others  on 
which  we  have  sometimes  travelled,  we  cannot  too  highly  praise 
the  management  of  the  Chicago  and  North-West. 

Rolling  along  upon  its  smooth  track  we  reach  Chicago  in 
twenty-two  hours.  Not  the  least  of  our  enjoyments  is  the 
luxurious  hotel-car.  We  dispense  at  last  with  the  lunch-basket 
which  has  been  the  stay  of  life  along  the  line  from  San  Francisco 
to  Omaha. 

The  Government  directors  who  annually  travel  over  the 
Pacific  roads,  do  them  no  more  than  justice  in  reporting  that 
they  are  well  built,  kept  in  excellent  repair,  and  intelligently 
managed.  Yet  the  public  has  one  favor  to  ask  of  them.  Let 
them  come  without  notice  upon  the  sharks  who  furnish  meals 
for  other  passengers  along  the  route,  and  let  them  breakfast, 
dine  and  sup  as  ordinary  mortals  do  for  five  days. 

Passengers  pay  their  dollars  not  complaining  that  ninety  per 
cent,  is  the  landlord's  profit,  but  they  find  fault  with  reason  be- 
cause they  cannot  get  decent  and  digestible  food  at  any  price. 

Hasty  perpendicular  feeding  is  in  a  great  measure  the  cause 
of  what  Germans  call   "  the  American  complaint,"   dyspepsia. 


326  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

I  am  not  partial  to  the  Continental  cooking — to  sauerkraut, 
sausages,  raw  ham,  caviare,  lager  beer  and  sour  wine,  but  I  do 
commend  the  practice  of  their  railroads  in  permitting  passengers 
to  sit  down  at  well  served  tables  in  well  ordered  restaurants, 
where  even  incongruous  articles  may  be  placed  in  the  stomach  at 
such  considerate  distances  that  they  are  comparatively  harmless. 

What  a  change  from  the  "  twenty  minutes  for  dinner ! "  when 
we  were  obliged  to  leave  our  rolling  homes,  often  crossing  over 
mud  and  snow  to  cheerless  barracks  where  supercilious  waiters 
dashed  upon  the  table  cold  and  repelling  dishes  of  tough  steak, 
floating  bacon,  pies  and  baked  beans,  and  cups  of  coffee  and 
tea,  the  steeped  productions  of  home  industry  ;  and  then  to 
listen  as  we  bolted  the  indigestible  mass  for  the  expected  scream 
of  the  whistle.  Now,  the  polite  negro,  yes,  I  will  call  him  the 
colored  man,  if  he  pleases,  and  in  the  joy  of  the  moment,  my 
colored  brother,  politely  hands  us  a  bill-of-fare  at  which 
Delmonico  need  not  sneer,  lays  a  spotless  cloth,  and  sets  upon 
it  warm  plates,  silver  ware,  goblets  and  wine  glasses.  Then 
follow  in  their  regular  order  soup,  fish,  entrees,  tender  meats  with 
succulent  vegetables,  dessert  of  ice  cream  and  fruit  ending  with 
the  best  gift  of  Araby  the  blest,  while  sherry  and  champagne 
have  moistened  the  abundant  and  comfortable  repast. 

All  these  roads  make  an  uninterrupted  progress  through 
cultivated  farms,  and  the  green  fields,  or  the  harvest  ripe  and 
bending  to  the  breeze,  are  in  lovely  contrast  with  the  sterile 
mountains  and  plains  of  the  uncultivated  territories. 

Happy  farmers  !  we  often  exclaimed,  as  we  saw  them  gath- 
ering in  their  golden  treasures. 

Poor  devils  !  too,  we  sometimes  called  them  when  in  one 
night  the  grasshoppers  blasted  their  labor  of  a  year,  swept  their 
green  fields  and  left  them  desolated  as  by  fire. 


CONTRAST  OF  MINING  AND  AGRICULTURE.  327 

I  have  in  my  mind  an  indelible  picture  of  an  Iowa  farmer 
leaning  over  his  fence  and  surveying  his  stripped  corn  stalks, 
with  an  expression  on  his  face  of  resignation,  though  a  shade  of 
it  mingled  with  the  query,  "  Is  this  the  work  of  Providence  or 
of  the  devil  ?  "  If  the  train  had  stopped  long  enough  I  would 
have  tried  to  console  him.  I  would  have  said,  "My  friend,  we 
must  all  take  our  chances  ;  mines  peter  out,  cattle  starve  on  the 
plains,  ships  are  wrecked,  merchants  fail,  tradesmen  are  un- 
employed ;  all  these  things  happen,  but  they  do  not  happen  all 
the  time,  and  it  is  equally  true  that  the  grasshopper  does  not 
always  come  in  his  might,  and  that  he  does  not  always  come  to 
the  same  place." 

So,  sons  of  the  soil,  take  courage  in  the  reflection  that  hap 
piness  and  misery  are  mingled  through  the  world,  but  the  distri- 
bution of  happiness  is  greater  for  you  than  for  any  of  the  rest. 
When  you  dream  of  rich  deposits  of  gold  and  silver,  imagining 
you  may  find  them  and  help  yourselves  to  unlimited  stores  like 
Aladdin  or  Monte  Cristo,  remember  the  comparison  made  by 
Governor  Stanford,  of  the  mining  and  agricultural  industries  of 
California,  and  see  now  how  it  has  been  justified  by  results  up 
to  the  close  of  1878.  Take  the  mining  interest  in  which  I  in- 
clude Nevada,  as  the  stocks  of  all  the  mines  are  quoted  on  the 
San  Francisco  Exchange.  The  total  amount  of  dividends  from 
California  and  Consolidated  Virginia,  the  two  great  "  Bonanzas," 
from  the  time  of  their  first  working  has  been — 

$7i,iSo,ooo 
Less  assessments 411,200 


$70,768,800 


showing  this  net  profit,  nearly  all  of  which  was  pocketed  by  four 
men,  Flood,  O'Brien,  Mackay  and  Fair. 


328  THE  ROUND  TRIP. 

Per  contra,  the  whole   amount  of  assessments  on   the  other 
178  mines  quoted  on  the  list,  has  been — 

#71,253,040 
Less  dividends 45,039,500 


Loss #26,213,540 

To  this  may  be  added  the  commissions  and  charges  of 
brokers  which,  at  a  moderate  estimate  for  all  these  years,  may  be 
computed  to  be  $50,000,000. 

If  the  stock  list  may  be  taken  as  a  criterion  it  would  appear 
that  the  whole  people  have  lost  more  than  a  few  men  have 
gained.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  to  be  admitted  that  the  labor- 
ing miners  have  gained  a  living,  and  that  there  are  many  other 
mines  productive  and  unproductive  not  on  the  stock  list  where 
profits  and  losses  cannot  be  estimated  from  reliable  data. 

My  object  was  to  make  a  comparison  of  the  mining  and 
agricultural  resources  of  California,  which  should  properly  ap- 
pear in  a  previous  chapter.  I  had  hoped  to  obtain  the  agricul- 
tural statistics  of  1878,  but  as  they  are  not  yet  forthcoming,  I 
here  introduce  some  figures  kindly  furnished  for  my  purpose  by 
Mr.  Elmore  H.  Walker,  of  the  New  York  Produce  Exchange. 
It  may  be  premised  that  the  year  1877  was  one  of  extraordinary 
drought. 

The  cereal  crops  of  California  in  1877  were — 


28,600,000 
1,277,500 
7,020,000 
2,400,000 
8,400,000 


Indian  Corn 

1,550,000  bushe 

Wheat      .     . 

22,000,000       " 

Oats     .     .     . 

1,750,000       " 

Barley      .     . 

7,800,000      "' 

Potatoes  .     . 

3,200,000       " 

Hay      .    .     . 

560,000    tons 

Total  value  cereals,  hay  and  potatoes     .     .        $49,170,000 


CONTRAST  OF  MINING  AND  AGRICULTURE. 


329 


In  1876  the  California  crops  were  as  follows  : — 


Indian  Corn 

.     1,600,000 

bush 

Wheat      . 

.  30,000,000 

tt 

Rve      .     . 

78,000 

" 

Oats    .     .     . 

.     2,450,000 

" 

Barley 

.  u,Soo,ooo 

II 

Potatoes .     . 

.    4,000,000 

" 

Hay    .     .     . 

850,000 

tons 

Total  value  cereals,  potatoes  and  hay     . 


34,200,000 
74,100 
1,813,000 
8,142,000 
3,320,000 
9,868,500 

£59,129,600 


The  wheat  crop  of  California  in  1878  was  about  as  large  as 
the  crop  of  1876,  and  is  much  larger  than  the  crop  of  1877.  The 
barley  crop  of  that  State  in  1878,  was,  it  is  believed,  larger  than 
the  crop  of  1876.  Can  any  one  doubt  that  the  interest  of  Cali- 
fornia will  be  promoted  by  the  encouragement  of  this  more  reg- 
ular permanent  and  widely  diffused  industry,  rather  than  by 
the  development  of  mining,  the  source  of  speculation  and 
gambling  ? 

And  now  as  we  come  so  near  the  end  of  our  journey  among 
the  farmers  of  the  "Old  West,"  the  reports  of  their  productions 
find  an  appropriate  place  following  those  of  California. 

Cereal  Crops  of  Nebraska. 


Bushels. 


Indian  Corn  . 

Wheat    .     .  . 

Rye    .     .     .  . 

Oats   .     .     .  . 

Barley     .     .  . 
Buckwheat . 

Potatoes      .  . 

Hay,  tons  .  . 

Total 


38,500,000 
5,640,000 

5,400,000 
520,000 

1,500,000 
475,000 


Acres. 


1,013.158 
376,000 


135,000 
21,667 

14,286 


1,887,697 


Value. 


16,930,000 
4,68  1,200 

810,000 
140,400 


600,000 
1,733-75° 


$14,885,350 


33° 


THE  ROUND  TRIP. 
Cereal  Crops  of  Iowa. 


Bushels. 

Acres. 

Value. 

Rve 

1 56,000.000 
37,810,000 

42,000,000 
5,300,000 

9,500,000 
2,550,000 

4,800,000 
2,607,584 

1,105,263 
230,435 

95,000 
1,961,568 

539,000,000 
32,894,700 

Oats 

8,400,000 
2,120,000 

3,610,000 
12,112,500 

10,799,820 

$98,137,200 

Cereal  Crops  of  Illinois. 


Bushels. 

Acres. 

Value. 

Rye 

260,000.000 

33,000,000 

2,844,000 

59,200,000 

2,760,000 

176,000 

12,834.009 

3,936,000 

8,865,517 
2,000,090 

1 58,000 
1,600,000 

120,000 
1 1 ,000 

138,000 
2,466,006 

75.400,000 
34,320,000 

1,422,000 
13,024.000 

2,152,800 
128,480 

5,046.960 
23,104,320 

Total 

15>45*>5I7 

$155,198,560 

The  products  of  three  great  States  whose  industries  are 
chiefly  agricultural  for  one  year  amount  to  a  value  of  $268,231,- 
110.  This  has  not  been  divided  among  a  few  men  ;  its  profits 
have  been  evenly  distributed,  and  the  aggregate  loss  falls  upon 
none.  Farmers,  stick  to  your  ploughs  and  thank  God  that  you 
have  inherited  the  curse  upon  Adam  ! 

Arriving  at  Chicago  we  are  so  near  to  our  homes  that  my 
readers  will  not  care  to  be  piloted  over  the  well-known  tracks 
that  lead  to  the  Atlantic  coast.  If  they  have  been  entertained  I 
shall  be  pleased,  and  it  will  be  a  greater  source  of  satisfaction 
if  they  have  in  any  degree  been  instructed. 


CONCLUSION.  331 

We  have  travelled  together  over  seas  and  mountains,  beheld 
nature  in  her  beauty  and  sublimity,  and  I  hope  that  more  prac- 
tical observations  have  shown  that,  as  a  nation,  we  owe  our 
wealth,  number  and  power  to  what  we  produce,  and  are  able  by 
a  great  railroad  system  to  transport  from  our  rich  and  boundless 
acres.  Manufactures  and  commerce,  shackled  as  they  are  by 
tariff  legislation,  are  small  and  of  little  account  in  comparison 
to  this.  Even  agriculture  feels  the  pressure  of  the  burden  im- 
posed upon  it  by  a  monopoly  that  enhances  the  cost  of  the 
farmer's  tools  and  household  wants. 

But  notwithstanding  all,  with  its  natural  advantages,  it 
overcomes  every  obstacle  that  opposes  its  progress.  With  new 
and  increasing  appliances  of  machinery,  guided  by  intelligent 
labor,  it  outrivals  the  old-world  systems  of  tillage  and  harvesting, 
and  insures  us  a  lasting  peace  with  the  nations  of  Europe,  for 
it  brings  them  to  our  feet  as  suppliants  for  their  daily  bread. 


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travel," — Hart/or  d  Republican. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS. 

A  History  of  American  Literature.  By  Moses  Coit  Tyler,  Pro- 
fessor of  English  Literature  in  the  University  of  Michigan.  Volumes 
I  and  II,  comprising  the  period,  1607-1765.  Large  8vo,  about  700 
pages,  handsomely  bound  in  cloth,  extra,  gilt  top,  $5.00  ;  half  calf, 
extra, $9  50 

The  History  of  American  Literature,  now  offered  to  the  public,  is  the  *5rst  at- 
tempt ever  made  to  give  a  systematic  and  critical  account  of  the  literary  development 
of  the  American  people.  It  is  not  a  mere  cyclopaedia  01  literature,  or  a  series  ot  de- 
tached biographical  sketches  accompanied  by  literary  extracts :  but  an  analytic  and 
sustained  narrative  of  our  literary  history  from  the  earliest  English  settlement  in 
America  down  to  the  present  time.  The  work  is  the  result  of  original  and  independent 
studies  prosecuted  by  the  author  for  the  past  ten  years,  and  gives  an  altogether  new 
analysis  of  American  literary  forces  and  results  during  nearly  three  centuries.     The 

{jresent  two  volumes— a  complete  work  in  themselves — cover  the  whole  field  of  our 
listory  during  the  colonial  time. 

"  An  important  national  work." — New  York  Tribune. 

"  The  literary  event  of  the  decade." — Hartford  Courant. 

"  A  book  more  interesting  than  half  the  new  novels."  —  The  Nation. 

"  A  work  of  great  and  permanent  importance." — New  York  Evening  Post. 

"  One  of  the  most  valuable  publications  of  the  century." — Boston  Post. 

"  A  book  actually  fascinating  from  beginning  to  end.   — Prest.  J.  B.  Angell. 

"  As  the  work  stands,  it  may  rightfully  claim  a  place  on  the  library  table  of  every 
cultivated  American." — New  York  Times. 

"  No  work  of  similar  scope  and  magnitude  and  erudition  exists,  or  has  been  at- 
tempted in  this  country." — New  York  Evangelist. 

"  A  unique  and  valuable  work  " — Chicago  Tribune. 

"  A  work  which  will  rank  with  those  of  Sismondi,  Ticknor,  and  Taine." — New 
York  Evening  Express. 

"  It  is  this  philosophical  character  of  the  work  which  brings  it  not  far  distant  from 
the  works  of  Taine,  of  Buckle,  and  of  Lecky." — Buffalo  Express. 

"  One  can  hardly  speak  too  strongly  in  praise  of  these  conscientious,  careful  and 
successful  volumes,  which  deserve  to  be  studied  alike  by  scholars  and  patriots." — Rev. 
Henry  Martyn  Dexter,  D.D. 

"  But  the  plan  of  Professor  Tyler's  book  is  so  vast  and  its  execution  so  fearless, 
that  no  reader  can  expect  or  wish  to  agree  with  all  its  personal  judgments.  It  is  a  book 
truly  admirable,  both  in  design  and  in  general  execution  ;  the  learning  is  great,  the 
treatment  wise,  the  style  fresh  and  vigorous.  Here  and  there  occurs  a  phrase  which  a 
severer  revision  would  perhaps  exclude,  but  all  such  criticisms  are  trivial  in  view  of  so 
signal  a  success.  Like  Parkman,  Professor  Tyler  may  almost  be  said  to  have  created, 
not  merely  his  volumes,  but  their  theme.  Like  Parkman,  at  any  rate,  he  has  taken  a 
whole  department  of  human  history,  rescued  it  from  oblivion,  and  made  it  hencefor- 
ward a  matter  of  deep  interest  to  every  thinking  mind."— T.  W.  Higginson,  in  The 
Nation. 

"The  work  betrays  acute  philosophical  insight,  a  rare  power  of  historical  re- 
search, and  a  cultivated  literary  habit,  which  was  perhaps  no  less  essential  than  the 
two  former  conditions,  to  its  successful  accomplishment.  The  style  of  the  author  is 
marked  by  vigor,  originality,  comprehensiveness,  and  a  curious  instinct  in  the  selection 
of  words.  In  this  latter  respect,  though  not  in  the  moulding  of  sentences,  the  reader 
may  perhaps  be  reminded  of  the  choice  and  fragrant  vocabulary  of  Washington  Irving, 
whose  words  alone  often  leave  an  exquisite  odor  like  the  perfume  of  sweet-briar  and 
arbutus." — George  Ripley,  in  the  Tribune. 

"  Professor  Moses  CoiL  Tyler's  '  History  of  American  Literature,'  of  which  the 
first  two  volumes  have  just  been  issued,  will  take  rank  at  once  as  a  book  of  lasting 
value,  even  though  the  author  should  advance  no  further  than  he  has  already  done  in 
the  scheme  ot  his  work.  We  are  not  unmindful  of  the  eminent  historians  this  country 
has  produced,  when  we  express  our  opinion  that  his  history  is  the  best  study  of  Ameri- 
can historic  material  that  has  been  written  by  an  American.  There  has  been  manifestly 
no  limit  to  the  enthusiasm,  conscientiousness  and  industry  with  which  he  has  possessed 
himself  ot  the  entire  body  of  the  literature  of  which  he  treats,  and  at  the  same  time  he 
has  displayed  the  qualities  of  a  true  literary  artist  in  giving  form,  color  and  perspective 
to  his  work." — Daniel  Gray,  in  the  Buffalo  Courier. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS. 

CONSTANTINOPLE.  By  Edmundo  de  Amicis,  author  of  "A  Journey 
through  Holland,"  "Spain  and  the  Spaniards,"  &c.  Translated  by 
Caroline  Tilton.  With  introduction  by  Prcf.  Vincenzo  Botta 
Octavo,  cloth. 

A  trustworthy  and  exceptionally  vivid  description  of  the  city  which,  in  the  present 
reopening  of  the  Eastern  question,  is  attracting  more  attention  than  any  other  in  the 
world.  De  Amicis  is  one  of  the  strongest  and  most  brilliant  of  the  present  generation  of 
Italian  writers,  and  this  latest  work  from  his  pen,  as  well  ftom  the  picturesqueness  of  its 
descriptions  as  for  its  skilful  analysis  of  the  traits  and  characteristics  of  the  medley  of 
races  represented  in  the  Turkish  capital,  possesses  an  exceptional  interest  and  value. 

THE  GREEKS  OF  TO-DAY.  By  Hon.  Charles  K.  Tuckerman, 
late  Minister  Resident  of  the  U.  S.  at  Athens.  Third  Edition.  i2mo, 
cloth, $1.50 

This  work  attracted  special  attention  at  the  time  of  its  publication,  in  1872,  as  giving 
a  trustworthy  and  interesting  picture  of  life  in  Greece,  and  of  the  character  and  status  of 
the  modern  Greek.  At  this  time,  when  public  attention  is  so  generally  directed  towards 
the  scheme  of  practically  re-establishing  a  Greek  empire  and  Greek  supremacy  in  the 
East,  it  is  thought  that  a  new  edition  will  prove  of  interest  and  service. 

"  The  information  contained  in  the  volume  is  ample  and  various,  and  it  cannot  fail 
to  hold  a  high  rank  among  the  authorities  on  modern  Greece.'1— Ar.  Y.  Tribune. 

"No  one  can  read  this  book  without  having  his  interest  greatly  increased  in  this 
brave,  brilliant,  and  in  every  way  remarkable  people." — N.  Y.  Times. 

"  We  know  of  no  book  which  so  combines  freshness  and  fullness  of  information."— 
N.  Y.  Nation. 

ENGLAND ;  POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL.     By  Auguste   Laugel. 

Translated  by  J.  M.  Hart.     i2mo,  cloth $1.50 

"It  is  written  with  a  tone  of  confidence  and  force  of  expression  which  captivate." 
—Buffalo  Commercial. 

"Affords  a  clear,  distinct,  and  comprehensive  view  of  the  political  institutions  of 
England." — N.  Y.  Nation. 

"  Here,  in  every  sense,  is  a  charming  book.     *     *     *     *     So  full  of  thought,  that, 
like  the  best  of  Macaulay's  Essays,  it  will  bear  reading  more  than  once.      *      *      *      * 
We  \\2v-  rarely  met  with  more  picture-like  descriptions  of  what  seems  to  have  dwelt  most 
upon  h;s  mind — English  landscape  scenery  and  rural  life." — N.  Y.  World. 

THE    SILVER   COUNTRY;   or,   THE    GREAT    SOUTHWEST. 

A  Review  of  the  Mineral  and  other  Wealth,  with  the  attractions  and 
material  development  of  the  former  kingdom  of  New  Spain,  comprising 
Mexico  and  the  territory  ceded  by  Mexico  to  the  United  States  in  1848 
and  1853.  By  Alexander  D.  Anderson.  8vo,  cloth,  with  Hypso- 
metric Map,      .  $i-75 

"Just  at  the  present  moment  everything  which  affords  reliable  information  on  the 
question  of  silver,  its  uses  and  production,  is  of  almost  paramount  interest."- — Washington 
National  Republican. 

"A  very  useful  book  for  those  who  wish  to  study  the  silver  question  in  its  funda- 
mental feature." — Chicago  Journal. 

•'The  book  will  unquestionably  become  the  authority  on  the  subject  of  which  it 
treats." — St.  Louis  Republican. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS. 

THE  HOME  ENCYCLOPEDIA  of  Biography,  History,  Literature, 
Chronology  and  Essential  Facts :  for  Libraries,  Teachers,  Students, 
and  family  use.  Comprehensive,  compact,  and  convenient  for  refer- 
ence. Comprised  in  two  parts.  Price  in  cloth,  $9  50 ;  in  half 
morocco,  $14  50,  sold  separately  or  together. 

Part  I. — The  World's  Progress.  A  Dictionary  of  Dates,  being  a 
Chronological  and  Alphabetical  Record  of  all  Essential  Facts  in  the 
Progress  of  Society,  from  the  beginning  of  History  to  August,  1877. 
With  Chronological  Tables,  Biographical  Index,  and  a  Chart  of 
History.  By  G.  P.  Putnam,  A.  M.  Revised  and  continued  by 
F.  B.  Perkins.  In  one  handsome  octavo  volume  of  1,000  pages, 
half  morocco,  $7  00  ;  cloth  extra $4  50 

Contents:  The  World's  Progress,  1867-1877  ;  The  Same,  1851-1S67; 
The  Same  from  the  Beginning  of  History  to  185 1.  United  States 
Treasury  Statistics.  Literary  Chronology,  arranged  in  tables  :  He- 
brew, Greek,  Latin  and  Italian,  Brtish,  German,  French,  Spanish 
and  Portuguese,  Dutch,  Swedish,  Danish,  Polish,  Russian,  Arabian, 
Persian  and  Turkish,  American.  Heat!  en  Deities  and  Heroes  and 
Heroines  of  Antiquity.  Tabular  views  of  Universal  History.  Bio- 
graphical Index,  General.  The  Same,  Index  of  Artists.  Schools  of 
Painting  in  Chronological  Tables. 

"  A  more  convenient  and  labor-saving  machine  than  this  excellent  compilation 
can  scarcely  be  found  in  any  language." — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

•'  The  largest  amount  of  information  in  the  smallest  possible  compass." — 
Br^falo  Courier. 

"  The  best  manual  of  the  kind  in  the  English  language. — Boston  Courier. 

"  'Well-nigh  indispensable  to  a  large  portion  of  the  community." — N.  Y.  Courier 
&*  Register. 

"  Absolutely  essential  to  every  merchant,  student,  and  professional  man." — 
Christian  Enquirer. 

"  It  is  worth  ten  times  its  price  *  *  *  It  completely  supplies  my  need." — 
S.  IV.  Riegart,  Principal  of  High  School,  Lancaster,  P~. 

Part  II. — The  Cyclopaedia  of  Biography :  A  Record  of  the 
Lives  of  Eminent  Men.  By  Parke  Godwin.  New  edition,  revised 
and  continued  to  August,  1877.  Octavo,  containing  over  1,200  pages, 
half  morocco,  $7  50  ;  cloth $5  00 

The  Publishers  claim  for  this  work  that  it  presents  an  admirable  combination 
of  compactness  and  comprehensiveness.  The  previous  editions  have  recommended 
themselves  to  the  public  favor,  as  well  for  the  fulness  of  their  lists  of  essential  names, 
as  for  the  accuracy  of  the  material  given.  The  present  edition  will,  it  is  believed,  be 
found  still  more  satisfactory  as  to  these  points,  and  pcssessesfor  /  merican  readers  the 
special  advantage  over  similar  English  works,  in  the  full  proportion  of  space  given  to 
eminent  American  names. 

"  We  can  speak  from  long  experience  in  the  use  of  this  book,  as  a  well-thumbed 
copy  of  the  first  edition  has  lain  for  years  on  our  library  table  for  almost  daily  reference. 
A  concise,  comp.  ct.  biographical  dictionary  is  one  of  the  most  necessary  and  convenient 
manuals,  and  wt  seldom  fail  to  find  what  we  look  for  in  this  excellent  compendium."— 
Home  Journal. 


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